“It was important” – Fulham head coach explains Bassey’s exclusion from FA Cup win over Watford

Fulham head coach, Marco Silva, has revealed why he opted not to field Super Eagles defender, Calvin Bassey, in his side’s 4-1 win over Watford in the FA Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 25-year-old has played all but one of Fulham’s 20 English Premier League games this season. He missed his side’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Bassey’s Nigerian counterpart, Alex Iwobi, has played every game for the Cottagers this season, and Marco Silva emphasized the need for both Nigerians to rest.

While Bassey didn’t feature in Fulham’s win over Watford, Iwobi was withdrawn shortly after the hour mark, and the Portuguese gaffer explained why.

“It was important to rest Robinson. Bassey and Iwobi have been playing a lot of minutes too. He has to rest his body, and mind, but he is ready for tomorrow,” the former Watford manager said in quotes revealed by Jack Kelly.

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Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi of Fulham celebrate at full time
Fulham v Arsenal, Premier League, Football, Craven Cottage, London, UK – 31 Dec 2023

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Despite news surrounding Fulham’s need to reinforce their attack for the second half of the Premier League season, Marco Silva revealed his side will most likely not be involved in the transfer market this month.

“It’s going to be really quiet for us, it’s going to be really difficult. That is normal in January. For us to improve the squad we have to spend money but we have confidence in our players. If we can add quality, we are going to do it,” the 47-year-old concluded.

Fulham travel to the London Stadium tomorrow to take on West Ham United, who recently fired Julen Lopetuigi to appoint Chelsea’s ex-coach, Graham Potter.

 

This post was last modified on January 13, 2025 4:12 pm

Adefolahan Guerreiro

Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria. With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience. He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.

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