Fulham manager Marco Silva was thrilled with what he saw from Fulham on Wednesday night.
A near-perfect display saw the Whites triumph 5-0 over Nottingham Forest, thanks to braces from Raul Jimenez and Alex Iwobi, before Tom Cairney’s late strike.
“I'm really pleased,” Silva said. “Delighted with the win, the result. The players deserve all the credit – great team performance, great result for us.
“Another great feeling that we took from the match tonight is the clean sheet, really important for us.
“I spoke before the match about it, I said to the players again when we were winning 2-0 that we have to keep it, keep playing in the same way, trying to be on the front foot always, but we have to be solid off the ball to not give them some chances to make counter-attacks.
“We knew before the match that was the moment probably where they were prepared to punish us, and we did really well and the players deserve all the credit for that.
“Of course, some really nice goals as well, with the way that we build, some of the goals were really good, and congratulations, they deserve the credit – the players – congratulations for the fans too, because they deserve it.”
Raul was imperious up top, with a great all-round display complementing his first Craven Cottage goals.
“Yes, it was fantastic,” Silva acknowleged. “But I have to say that at Anfield he did an amazing game as well.
“He didn't score there, but when you play sometimes far from your goal, and you have to fight with van Dijk and Matip and all their players, in some moments we went a little bit more direct.
“The way he was able to win the duels and to link our game when we went a bit more direct, in terms of commitment and effort, it was unbelievable at Anfield what he did.
“And I told him after the match at Anfield that I knew these type of things will come, it’s going to be a consequence from his hard work.
“Of course, a better performance from us in the offensive part of the game gives the striker much more conditions for them to perform and to score as well, and it was really nice to see.
“The first goal he scored against Villa felt like a relief for him, that all that weight that he had in his back went straight away out from him. And from that moment you see much more fresh play, much more confidence, because of the quality he has.”