Marco Silva believes Craven Cottage is becoming a fortress for Fulham with Premier League rivals wary of visiting.
Fulham beat Arsenal and Tottenham in the league, and held Liverpool to a draw in the Carabao Cup, at home last season, while this term have beaten Newcastle and held the Gunners to a draw at Craven Cottage.
The newly renovated Riverside Stand, which backs onto the River Thames, continues to be opened up to more fans in gradual steps, with recent attendances edging towards 27,000 and the eventual capacity is set to be 28,500.
The Fulham manager spoke last season about the need for home supporters to build an atmosphere which buoys the Cottagers on and intimidates visiting teams.
Reflecting on whether Craven Cottage is becoming a fortress for Fulham, who visit Liverpool on Saturday, Silva said: “I definitely feel it is. I like to create that.
“We are not going to win all the games [at home] of course, because even if you want to, and the ambition is to win, we are not going to [always] win. But we have to create a certain type of way to play and certain standards.
“I say to the fans that we need them. When you are not on your top level, even if they are not so happy with what they are seeing, the impact they can have on our team in our team and sometimes the opposition team can be so good.”
Silva added that he is pleased with how the Riverside Stand's expansion is helping Fulham’s fervent home support to grow.
“It's been so good,” he admitted. “After the promotion, the first game we played at home against Liverpool two seasons ago was like a restart and like a statement. From that moment, we built what we want.
“We want to create that environment between the team and fans, because we are going to be strong. It’s almost full. Not yet, but I really believe the Riverside Stand is going to be even better for us.”
