Marco Silva is braced for a tough game when Fulham head to Stoke City for an FA Cup fourth round tie
16:17, 13 Feb 2026Updated 16:18, 13 Feb 2026
Fulham manager Marco Silva
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Fulham manager Marco Silva
Fulham boss Marco Silva won’t just Stoke City from current form with an ominous promise not to take this FA Cup tie lightly.
Fulham head to the bet365 Stadium for a fourth round tie on Sunday (2pm) ready to take on an injury-hit Stoke side that has drawn three and lost three of its last six games.
But Silva points to the atmosphere at the club earlier in the season with a suggestion that the hosts will be out to give him a tough afternoon.
He said: “They started very well, a very good start to the competition for them, always in a very good position around the play-offs. The start was strong, playing good, you know when the club is in a good run, the environment or the atmosphere in that stadium is always a difficult place to go and to play, because the home support is very good.
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“Of course, after they have been a bit down. Because the Championship is so demanding, it can happen. The last run is not the best, but looking at them, we don't look for the last run or whatever. We look for everything, and their quality as a club – because if they want to look for our last run, it’s not so strong like it was one month ago.
“It’s up to us to react, it's up to us to respect them and to see that they have a quality side that is going to make our life really difficult.”
Silva is expected to make changes to his starting XI following a mid-week defeat at Manchester City but he promises to go strong in a competition he knows there is a chance for glory. Fulham are 22/1 to win the cup this year and claim their first major honour.
“(The FA Cup is) very important for us,” said Silva. “I don't like really just to go by words, we have to prove it on the pitch. But yes, any time we start a competition like this one, we aim high and we want to arrive in the final stages.
“Of course, we have to be serious. And sometimes, people want to be serious, but they make seven or six changes for one game – these things are not related. Sometimes you have three games in a week. Other times, the players that have been on the bench really deserve a chance to prove their quality as well. This is the way you can set all of them in the same page and to compete for the positions and make our group stronger.
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“But definitely very serious. We didn't arrive – in the last four years and a half – in one final, I know, but we have been every single year, in one cup or the other, able to arrive in the quarter-finals, and we want more. And if you want more, it’s an opportunity for us.
“FA Cup is tricky, against a Championship side is very, very tricky to play, and we have to really respect them, and be humble enough to understand if we are not at our best level it’s going to be a very, very tough afternoon. And that is our aim, really – to play good football, to be able to win the game, and to play the next one.”
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