The Fulham bombshell that dominates Marco Silva's Newcastle United build-up

Fulham manager Marco Silva has revealed he will have stern words with his players ahead of their clash against Newcastle United.

A furious Cottagers boss hooked Alex Iwobi, Harry Wilson and Sasa Lukic just 33 minutes into their 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest. Fulham were 2-0 down at the time after conceding early Callum Hudson-Odoi and Chris Wood goals.

The defeat gave Forest a three-point cushion over Luton Town in the relegation race. As for the visitors, who host Newcastle on Saturday, their hopes of launching a late bid for European football were dented - with Silva’s tactical rethink dominating the post-match headlines.

The Magpies know all too well of the 46-year-old’s fiery temper. Premier League and FA Cup wins over Fulham this season have resulted in Silva venting at post-match press conferences.

In December, the Portuguese copped an £80,000 fine for suggesting referee Sam Barrott lacked “experience” to officiate a top-flight fixture. This came after Raul Jimenez was sent off for a reckless lunge on Sean Longstaff.

Silva again hit out at a possible handball and wrongfully given a corner when the two sides met in the cup. He has now admitted “serious conversations” with the squad will take place in the coming days - hinting at all not being well before Newcastle travel to Craven Cottage.

“It was not just one thing (wrong with the performance),” Silva said. “Unfortunately there were many. And it's not just because of the three players that came off after 30 minutes.

“In that moment, if I could have changed more than those three players I would have. We were too slow, not dynamic at all and off the ball we were really bad. Not aggressive, not compact or solid and any team in this league will punish you if you're not solid enough.

“Over the next few days we'll have more serious conversations about that because this is the first time where we have had a first-half like this one. It cannot happen again.”