Marco Silva confirms key Fulham man 'in contention' to return from injury return vs. Liverpool

Marco Silva has confirmed one of his key defenders could be back to after a four-month injury layoff.

Kenny Tete last played for in the reverse league but had to be replaced after 55 minutes of due to a knee injury. The full-back has been slowly working his way back to fitness ever since and has recently stepped up his recovery in training.

Speaking in Friday’s pre-match press conference, Silva confirmed that the right-back could be an option on Sunday. “Kenny Tete is training 100 percent with the team and it’s a matter of time for him to be in the squad list,” he explained.

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“He is going to be in contention to be involved. It could be Liverpool, it could be other games, it will be my decision. Soon, we are going to see him involved in the squad list.”

While Tete is unlikely to go straight back into the starting XI and would most probably be an option from the bench, his return is a huge boost long-term given the ex-Lyon man started 15 of the opening 16 league games of the campaign. Timothy Castagne has mainly operated at right-back in Tete’s absence and will likely start against Liverpool.

Meanwhile, only Reiss Nelson and Harry Wilson have been ruled out of the fixture indefinitely. The latter hasn’t played since January due to a broken foot, but is closing in on a return.

“It’s nice to see Harry Wilson around the squad, on the grass, doing some individual work,” said Silva. “He will be with us soon and that’s great news in terms of the wide attacking areas of the pitch, where you miss a player of his characteristics, who can help the team.”

On the challenge of facing Liverpool, the ex- boss added: “They are consistent, they haven’t lost an away Premier League game so far this season, which shows what I am talking about.

“They haven’t dropped many points at home so far this season, but we were one of the teams who took points from them at Anfield. It’s going to be a game that demands us to be close to perfection.

"From our side, we need to fight really hard for the three points. We are in our own battle too. They want the three points to be closer to the title, we want our three points for our own battle.

“We respect them, but let’s try to create the same environment that our supporters created last Saturday at home. That type of environment will be more difficult for Liverpool and help us too.”