Fulham manager Marco Silva backed record-breaking Aleksandar Mitrovic to thrive in the English Premier League next season after the Serbia striker took his EFL Championship tally to 43 goals this season in a title-clinching 7-0 thrashing of Luton Town on Monday.
Mitrovic, 27, managed just three goals as London club Fulham were relegated from the Premier League last term, but Silva said: “He will be more confident next season — we need to be that as a club as well.”
“All of us have to improve every single year. We cannot judge him just by the goals he scores next season — we have to analyze many other things from him,” Silva said.
Photo: Reuters
“We have to prepare ourselves. It’s not really different from this season. The challenge will be tougher, but it was tough this season,” he said.
Fulham were already assured of promotion before their final home game of this season got under way, and they gave fans at Craven Cottage even more to celebrate against the outclassed Hatters.
Fulham captain Tom Cairney opened the scoring with a powerful strike in the 29th minute before Kenny Tete doubled the lead from long range 10 minutes later.
Any hopes promotion-chasing Luton had of making a comeback then evaporated during a cascade of Fulham goals in the second half.
“We had a really tough day, but they [Fulham] are the best team in the division, and congratulations to them,” Luton manager Nathan Jones said. “We’ve got nine first-team injuries... What we have to do is make sure we dust ourselves off, and we’re ready to go at the weekend.”
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