From the Press Box: A chance that Kevin is in contention

Jack Kelly updates us after another Marco Silva press conference.

Here’s a stat for you (it’s not really a stat, but bare with me): the last time Fulham ventured ‘up north’ for an away game was Aston Villa away on 3 May. A 1-0 loss, and the only game I didn’t attend last season, due to a stag weekend.

We’ve been London, or the south coast, ever since. The following away games: Brentford, Brighton and Chelsea. Like I said, I wasn’t at Villa Park in the merry month of May, so for me, I haven’t been ‘up north’ for a Fulham away game since… March. Sunday 2 March to be exact. Our FA Cup RO16 win on penalties at Old Trafford.

The away games in between United and Aston Villa were: Brighton, Arsenal and Bournemouth. I thought that was a cool little stat, but let’s move on.

So another match day approaches, which means another presser. My fifth out of six in the space of a week. The topic of the day: Kevin. The shoulder injury that he suffered against Cambridge perhaps isn’t as serious as first feared.

Silva: “So far, all the players are okay. We will keep assessing. Kevin trained today, there’s a chance he’s in contention, but we have another session tomorrow.”

That’s good news, in fact, that’s great news. If all goes well in training tomorrow, it would be superb to see Kevin on the coach to Birmingham. We shall see.

Silva highlighted the importance of attempting to make it three Premier League wins on the spin.

“To go and fight for three wins in a row is massive for us. It’s been a tough place for us to go. We know the quality they have. They haven’t started the way they wanted. There’s a chance to change the results of Aston Villa vs Fulham. We are growing.”

It’s one of my favourite topics for Silva to speak about. That changing of the narrative; the changing of the story. He often refers to hearing about Fulham having poor records against certain teams, and being determined to put those hoodoos to bed.

Silva and Fulham have done just that. They have been able to change those results. Getting good results against top six teams, beating Chelsea and Manchester United away, beating Wolves and Newcastle away. Lots of amazing performances, results and memories that the Fulham fans have been able to experience under his stewardship.

Our record at Villa Park under Silva isn’t great. Three defeats. 1-0, 3-1 and 1-0 again. But, we’re in good form, we’re in good shape. I fancy us. I really do.

My first experience of an away win came at Villa Park in April 2014 - the last time we were victorious in Aston. We’ve had to suffer since.

A late 1-0 loss in 2016 under Slavisa. Then a year later losing 2-1, with John Terry scoring and running over to the away end. Stefan Johansen scored a free-kick to equalise, but we lost 2-1. Oh well, we beat them at Wembley a few months later.

I’ll never forget the loss in lockdown. Oh, the horror. 0-1 up, thanks to Aleksander Mitrovic and as it stood, Fulham were out of the relegation zone. Then Tosin’s error led to an equaliser and Fulham fell to a 3-1 defeat, and never really recovered from that, and were relegated.

I don’t think I’ve recovered from that.

Three Premier League losses in a row. One goal scored through Raul Jimenez - scored while me and my friends were already halfway back to Birmingham New Street.

Ryan Sessegnon thought he’d levelled the scoring last season, but the goal was chalked off due to handball. A decision that looked correct.

Surely this can be our time. Almost 11 years of hurt. Let’s “change the story”, as Silva said.

Not much more to report from the presser. More quotes to come on both Friday and Saturday night at 22:30. Those quotes can be read and digested on my X account, and on my Patreon too.

It’s been a busy week, with a trip down to Bournemouth at this time next week. Looking forward to seeing the travelling Fulham fans on Sunday. Go well!