Marco Silva issues Premier League survival verdict following Fulham promotion

The Portuguese helped the Cottagers earn promotion back to the top flight, with confirmation coming courtesy of an emphatic 3-0 home win on Tuesday evening.

Fulham were comfortably the best side in the division all season and it showed during their demolishing of Preston North End this midweek.

But this is the London club’s third promotion to the top flight in five years.

Fulham have earned a reputation as a yo-yo club that goes up and straight back down having been relegated on the first attempt in the other two of the last five campaigns.

However, Silva now believes that his side have the quality and composure to remain a Premier League club over a longer period than before.

“It’s a nice word yo-yo team. It’s a good nickname,” said Silva, via Hammy End.

“But we have to be not too concerned about this, that’s the first thing. We know that it’s a huge challenge for us. 

“We got the promotion earlier in the season [this time] and I think that will be a good help for us to prepare everything in the right way, with time, because our next pre-season will be really important for us.

“Now is the moment for us to keep working for the next four games and start preparing well for the next season because the challenge is huge, definitely, but if you work so hard to achieve it, you have to be really positive.

“You cannot go for a season with this concern [relegation] on our mind, you have to go with full desire and ambition. 

“Sometimes it’s very difficult for teams going up to achieve what they want the season after, but it’s part of our job. It’s a fantastic challenge but we have all the conditions to do well to make this club a Premier League club.”

Fulham’s previous promotions were earned via the play-off places, but this time