Marco Silva is expecting a different test to most Championship fixtures when Fulham travel to Swansea City on Tuesday.
The Jacks have more of the ball than their opponents in the majority of their matches, which presents a new challenge for Silva, who is used to seeing his side dominating the play.
“Yes, it will definitely be different,” he said in Monday morning’s press conference. “They’re a team that like to have possession. I think they’re the team with the most possession in this competition.
“Their game is to play out from the goalkeeper, they have enough courage to do it, and they do it with quality. I think the game we played against them at the Cottage is a good example of that.
“I think maybe they were the only team that had more possession than us at the Cottage. That shows the way they like to play.
“We know that sometimes they will have possession in a low position around their box, they use the goalkeeper a lot in this moment as well to start from the back. And they do it well.
“It’s up to us, with our plan and our strategy, to try to control these moments, and to feel comfortable with this situation because it’s not the end of the world.
“Of course we like to have the possession, we like to keep the ball, we like to control the game with the ball, it’s our way, but in some moments we have to feel comfortable with the situation, even if it’s not natural for us a team to see the others with the ball.
“We have to press really high to try to get the ball from them, and we will do it in certain moments. Other moments, we have to control in a different way, and I think that will be a good challenge for us.”
With three away games in just eight days, Silva was asked if we could see some squad rotation.
But our Head Coach insisted that alterations will only be made if he believes they will help us to maximum points.
“All the decisions that I make on the squad list will always be with full focus on the next game,” he explained. “Normally I don’t like to make changes just for the sake of it, there has to be a plan behind it.
“Last game I made three changes from the previous one, because it was my plan to do it, looking at the opposition we were playing against and the type of game it will be.
“Tomorrow’s match will be the same, I will look at what we’ll expect from the game, from the opposition’s side as well, and I will take decisions from that.
“The plan that I have for the game will have a big impact on the players I choose.”
