Marco Silva knows that Fulham are not facing the same Blackburn Rovers side that we met at Ewood Park in November.
That memorable night saw the Whites put seven past our hosts without reply, but Tony Mowbray’s team responded in the best possible way.
An unbeaten 10 game run followed, yielding an impressive 26 points, to firmly put Rovers into the promotion picture.
“I believe it’s a very good test for us,” Silva said of Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off. “We don’t look at the last result. It was a fantastic evening for us, it was really tough for them.
“It’s a different game with different history, I don’t have doubts about it. That is the reality, because after that great win for us and big defeat for them, what they did was fantastic.
“The way they reacted and the way they collected points, the way they achieved very good results, shows their quality. For me, it shows their character as a team as well.
“It’s not easy to come back from a 7-0 defeat at home. I think it was the worst defeat in their history as a club, and we are talking about a big club, and they’ve shown character and quality, and the belief that they have.”
Blackburn’s form had tailed off a little bit recently, not helped by an injury to 20-goal forward Ben Brereton Diaz, but they secured a first win in six last weekend when they beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0.
“The last few games they’ve had some ups and downs but, again, what I saw from their last game was a reaction,” Silva explained.
“The way they won the game, they won the game clearly against QPR. They deserved the three points, they won really clearly, in my opinion, that game, and showed again the quality and belief they have.
“It’s a team that plays with a lot of energy and a lot of belief in themselves. They will come here to match us, and because of that I’m saying it will be a tough one. It will be a big test for us.
“They are different to us, but they are good as well. They have a different approach, many times they are changing [their approach], I don’t know if they will change something, but what I do know is that they will create problems for us.
“It’s a team that’s really strong on the counter attack, and when the opposition makes mistakes they can punish them because they have quality.
“The three players in the attack line have this quality, even without Brereton they have the quality in the attack line. Every time the opposition make a mistake or sleep a little bit, they can punish you.
“It’s a game for us to be fully focused and, of course, play in our way and at our best level. I’m 100 per cent sure, if we do that, we will create chances, we will dominate the game, but at the same time we have to always have a good balance and be fully focused.”
