Marco Silva addressed the media following Fulham’s 3-0 Premier League away defeat to Bournemouth on Boxing Day.

Since the Cottagers back-to-back 5-0 wins in the Premier League, they have struggled to create and score goals, leading to questions around its symmetry with both Raúl Jimenez and Willian missing from the squad.

“It is not a coincidence that we have struggled since losing two of our best players in our attacking line,” said Marco, adding: “That is a reality. Of course, I’m not here to find excuses to talk about, but Raúl was in a very good moment, was scoring goals and really helping the team.

“And Willian, as you know, is a key player for us in the way we want to create and the way we want to build our attacking moments.”

Tuesday’s defeat to Bournemouth made it two defeats in four days following what has been a very busy December for the Whites and Marco was not satisfied with the performances that have come of late.

“I’m not really happy with our performance with some things I saw on the pitch,” he said. “Of course, last game was different because our first half was at a very good level. Before the Burnley goal, my feeling was that we were going to win that game.”