Fulham travel to Bristol City this weekend in a bid to re-build some lost momentum in the Championship.
Unfortunately for the Cottagers they will remain without youngster Fabio Carvalho and Terence Kongolo.
Carvalho, the 19-year-old Portuguese attacking midfielder, aggravated a toe injury against Stoke.
Marco Silva told West London Sport:
“Fabio’s started running on the pitch; but it’s longer than I expected and wanted, to be honest.
“He took some steps back and we want to make sure he doesn’t step back again. We hope next week he can start working with the team.”
Carvalho currently has three goals and one assist to his name in five Championship appearances, a very impressive record so far, however it remains crucial that Fulham don’t risk him and chance sidelining him for a longer period of time.
Kongolo, the 27-year-old Dutch defender is set to return to action for the U23s soon after missing a running total of 163 days due to knee surgery. Kongolo has missed a total of 82 games for the Whites since joining and has been constantly set back with further injuries upon his return since 2020.
Silva stressed the importance of slowly building Kongolo back up to match fitness and he added:
“As for Kongolo, he needs more time for his best physical condition. But he’s ready to play some games with the Under-23s and he’s been working with the team.
“He’s in better shape and he needs games and minutes.”
With Fulham’s defence looking quite comfortable Kongolo will have to remain patient to get his long awaited return to first-team action.
Silva has so far enjoyed a strong start to life in charge of the Championship club – they currently sit in 2nd-place of the table after claiming 16 points from their opening eight games.
Their weekend trip to Bristol City kicks off at 3pm on Saturday.
