Silva's welcome boost as back-up boys show Fulham can fight on two fronts

ON A night when Fulham manager Marco Silva had to watch from the stands, his biggest concern was not his difficulty in communicating from high up in the eaves at the Stadium of Light, but whether his bit-part players could perform.

- Dom Smith 

Sunderland 2

Clarke 77, Bennette 90

Fulham 3

Wilson 8, Pereira 59, Kurzawa 82 

Silva served a touchline ban, having amassed too many yellow cards. Sat in the back row of the West Stand, he watched Fulham see off Sunderland at the second attempt to book a meeting with Leeds in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Silva shuffled his pack, making nine changes. In came Tom Cairney, Shane Duffy and Layvin Kurzawa, as well as 17-year-old Luke Harris.

Bar a few costly errors, the standins performed well to offer Silva encouragement that his squad is strong enough for a run deep into the FA Cup, while still maintaining good form in the Premier League.