Fulham boss waxes lyrical about London rivals progress

Marco Silva praised Roy Hodgson's impact at Crystal Palace since his return, which has seen the Eagles find their feet in front of goal and climb the Premier League table.

Hodgson, who took over from Patrick Vieira in March, has steered the Eagles to safety with five wins in eight matches. There has also been an upturn in attacking output, with the south London club scoring 15 goals since their 4-1 defeat to Arsenal two months ago.

Fulham boss Silva talked up Palace's improved attacking form, attributing it to the confidence former England boss Hodgson has instilled in his squad since his arrival.

"The new manager impact for sure (has helped them in front of goal) because they are in a good moment," Silva said ahead of Saturday's clash between the teams at Craven Cottage.

"It was a matter of confidence for them to find goals because they have the quality, the talent up front, to punish any team in this league.

"When they won the first game under Roy (Hodgson) and then the second, the confidence came again on different levels and they're now expressing themselves, you can feel during the matches.

"The way some of their players are playing right now you can feel they are full of confidence."

Silva's side dismantled Palace 3-0 at Selhurst Park in December but the Fulham boss admitted he expects a different challenge on Saturday as he highlighted the form of their young players.

Eagles top goalscorer Eberechi Eze has netted six goals in eight games, including a brace in last week's 2-0 victory over Bournemouth, and Silva is aware of their attacking threat.

Silva added: "They also have the quality there, (Michael) Olise, Eze, (Wilfried) Zaha, (Odsonne) Edouard, the support they have from the midfielders.

"With the players they have they can go on, I think they have a lot of individual quality in the attacking line.

"You can see the young talents who have the experience already in the Premier League to create many problems for the opposition every time.

"They have some very good connections, the players link (with) each other very well and of course some players in the back line too.

"I think it will be a very good game against a good side who will want to keep the same capacity to get points - and we want to do the same."

The Cottagers have avoided any threat of relegation on their return to the top flight, spending the majority of the campaign in the top half.

Silva, who stated in the summer that his squad "was not ready" for the league, credited his players for their efforts - they are currently only two points off their record Premier League points tally of 53.

He added: "We showed the capacity to adapt in any moment of the season in what the season demands of ourselves…some moments without our full squad, without some important players for us."

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