Fulham manager Marco Silva says three points against Aston Villa on Saturday would be the perfect way to mark his 150th game in charge of Fulham.
The boss is searching for his 70th Fulham win as we look to make it four matches unbeaten at Craven Cottage.
“It’s just another game for me but it’s a nice one,” said Marco in his pre-match press conference. “Ending the game with three points is the only thing I’m looking for.
“Our ambitions are always the same. Keep working with this great group of players and keep making the fans proud of us – those are the two main things for me. If we keep moving in this direction, we’re going to get the club in a better position.”
Looking to bring an end to our undefeated start at home is a Villa side who are yet to taste defeat on their travels this season. In fact, Unai Emery’s side have lost just one game so far this campaign, which was a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
Sitting fifth in the Premier League, Villa have also won their opening two games in the Champions League and have progressed to the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, with the boss heaping plenty of praise on Emery for the impact he’s had at Villa Park.
“Incredible,” replied Marco when asked to sum up Emery’s spell at Villa. “That is the best word.
“It’s not like it’s something that he’s not done in the past at other clubs if you look through his CV. Everything he’s done in his career speaks for itself and he doesn’t need me to mention these things.
“It’s almost impossible to have a better impact than what he’s had and you see how he’s improved the club and the results. He is one of the main reasons they’re playing Champions League football.
“It’s a very good side we’re going to play against. They’re coming off the back of a brilliant season where they were at a high level, and we need to praise them for that and understood how good they’ve been playing. Even the start of the Champions League has been impossible to be any better for them because it’s been perfect in terms of results.
“They will be fully motivated to get a good result but they know what they’re going to face as well. We have been playing well, we’re strong at home and we have been away from home as well. It’s going to be a very good game in my opinion and both teams will try to win the game.”
Despite many of our players continuing their good form for their nations over the international break, Sasa Lukia and Timothy Castagne returned to Motspur Park with injuries that were picked up while away with Serbia and Belgium respectively.
“Sasa is going to be out. It was a mixed international break for us. Some players were able to keep the momentum, to have an impact on their national teams, playing well and getting minutes which is important to us.
“There are some good examples of that with [Harry] Wilson, Raul [Jimenez] and Andreas [Pereira] and some others that may not have scored but played and were important.
“When I say mixed feelings, Sasa Lukia will be out and for more than one or two games, it’ll be more than that. Timo Castagne also came back with a problem with his hamstring so let’s see how long that’s going to be.
“They are going to be out for sure and the situation with Jorge Cuenca and Carlos Vinícius is that they are still out.”