The Portuguese tactician admitted that his previous comments, where he claimed to be "not satisfied" with the forward's contributions, were purely provocative. Fonseca sought to test the teenager's character following a peripheral display against Angers and complaints of international travel fatigue.
Speaking after the Lorient win about his decision to challenge the youngster publicly, Fonseca said: "As a coach, we need to find strategies to elicit reactions from the players, and that's what I did. I spoke to provoke a reaction from him, and I saw that reaction."
He added: "Yes, we talked. Endrick is a young player, a very positive person; I really like his personality. At 19, he's in a period of evolution, of change, but we talked; everything is fine."