Marco Silva hails Leeds United men but eyes Whites "weakness" and Fulham triple tonic

Silva will return to the dugout for Saturday lunchtime's Premier League showdown against Leeds at Craven Cottage having served a two-game ban imposed for his behaviour in last month's defeat at Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Fulham had booked their place in the competition's last eight with the previous month's 2-0 victory at home to Leeds who were also beaten 3-2 by the Cottagers in October's league clash at Elland Road.

Six months later, it means tenth-placed Fulham are now chasing a Leeds treble in Saturday's clash in West London which the fifth-bottom Whites are approaching following heavy home defeats to Crystal Palace and Liverpool in which the Whites shipped in 11 goals over the two games.

Silva, though, is not judging Leeds on their defeats to the Eagles and Reds but instead on what he has seen - good and bad - over the rest of the campaign so far.

Speaking at Friday's pre-match press conference and as quoted by fulhamfc.com, Silva revealed that he had been particularly impressed with United's attacking players and said of Leeds: "I know that they are not in the best position, [but] they are fighting for something.

“It’s nothing different for us to the last three teams that we played against – Bournemouth was the same, West Ham was the same, and Everton. We don't look for [Leeds’] last two games, it will be the first mistake if you look for the last two results.

"Of course, we analyse the games and we did what we should have done, but we didn't look for the results because it will be the first mistake if you think those results are something that is a normal situation for Leeds, because we already played twice against them this season.

“We know how they can be really tough to play against if they are at their best, that is clear for me, they are always a threat in the attack line. There are very good players in that attack line, players with a lot of skill that can create problems to you.

“Of course, we analysed them as a team, we know their weakness, but we know their strengths as well, and we want to exploit the weakness to try to win the football match. But the first step for us to win that football match is to respect them as a team and to understand that, in the Premier League, the position doesn't matter. If you are not at your best level, any team can beat you."

Pressed on the fact that his side were chasing a Whites treble, Silva admitted: “It gives us the confidence that we were able to do it, and it means that we can do it again. The position in the table that we're around right now gives us the confidence to keep expressing ourselves and to go to play with confidence as well. And now we are going to try to win against Leeds for the third time.”