Fulham manager Marco Silva expresses his delight as star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic returns from an eight-match suspension this weekend.
Mitrovic, who has been serving the ban since grabbing referee Chris Kavanagh during the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United in March, is the team’s leading goal scorer. Despite his absence, Mitrovic has trained regularly with the squad and aims to continue his impressive performance in the Premier League.
The striker has already netted 11 goals in 21 league matches since Fulham’s promotion, adding to his remarkable record of 43 goals in the previous Championship season.
“Mitrovic is back and it’s always good to have him back,” said Silva, whose side travel to bottom club Southampton on Saturday.
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“It’s been tough, I won’t hide it from you. His behaviour has been really good all this period, with support from ourselves. He knew from the first day it was going to be different from a normal ban or normal injury.
“He was always working with the team. It was a tough period for him, of course. It will be good to have him back.
“It was a strong feeling for us, it’s clear it was an exaggerated thing. We admitted as a club that you cannot react in that situation. It’s clear, he did it, he admitted the mistake but the number of games, if you compare with other situations, is completely different. We as a club keep strong and we keep supporting him.”
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Silva has rotated who he has used in the central attacking position in the Serbia striker’s absence, with Carlos Vinicius taking on the role during Monday’s 5-3 win against Leicester and scoring his fourth of the season.
Daniel James and Bobby Decordova Reid have also been deployed as strikers as the Cottagers maintained the push to break their record top-flight points tally of 53, which was set by Roy Hodgson’s side in 2009.
Silva was especially impressed with Vinicius’ performance in the rout of Leicester.
“It’s what any manager wants really,” Silva added. “It was the reason why we signed Carlos. Of course with more game time, and making good things, bad things, mistakes, make the players grow of course with some important goals.
“It’s given (him) the confidence he needs. It’s nice to see him performing better and better the last few games.
“It’s important to have a player like Mitro, a player like Vini, and I have to say even we won two games with Daniel James as a striker and Bobby as a striker. Different profile and we were able to win that game against Everton and Leeds at home.
“That shows that everyone knows his role, everyone is fighting for the club and can pop up in certain moments of the season.”