Record signing Kevin needs time to adapt, says Fulham boss Marco Silva | OneFootball

Fulham manager Marco Silva says it will be “a process” to get the best out of club-record signing Kevin after the 22-year-old made his full debut in the 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Cambridge.

A half-full Craven Cottage endured an uninspired display as a team featuring 11 changes limped into the fourth round thanks to Emile Smith Rowe’s goal midway through the second half, although their new Brazilian winger offered glimpses of his talent, coming in off the flanks with some clever touches and incisive runs.

The £34.6million signing was substituted late on with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, a worrying sign ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa.

“Let’s see what’s going to happen,” said Silva. “He kept feeling the pain there.

“Kevin is in a process. He arrived 23 days ago. The first 10 days, he was training with 11 players here (during the international break). You can imagine how long it will take.

“He’s very talented, he has something different in terms of profile. He needs time to understand his team-mates and understand the kind of football he’s going to play. Football is different here to in other countries.

“He knows he has strong competition in the wide areas of the pitch. The more minutes he has, the more he is going to adapt.”

Smith Rowe’s goal in the 66th minute helped spare Fulham from an embarrassing potential upset, although they could have had little complaint if the League two side had clung on to take the game to penalties.

Raul Jimenez had produced the only moment of Premier League quality up to that point, leaping into a back-heeled volley that just cleared the crossbar at the start of the second half.

Harrison Reed was twice denied by Cambridge goalkeeper Jake Eastwood, who gave a worthy personal account.

Neil Harris’ side might have gone in at half-time in the lead but for a deflection on a Shayne Lavery shot from Jorge Cuenca that carried the Northern Ireland international’s effort inches wide.

“Everything was too slow first half,” said Silva. “We had 80 per cent possession, but if you’re not aggressive enough on the ball and with your dynamic, you can have 90 per cent possession, you’re not going to create anything. We had only one good chance first half.

“Clearly it was not our most inspirational night for our creative players.”

Cambridge boss Harris was full of praise for his team’s brave showing.

“First half, our shape and discipline, the desire to defend our goal was superb,” he said. “We had the best opportunity from Shayne Lavery. We were delighted. We knew Fulham would move the ball quicker in the second half

“We stood strong and our goalkeeper made some great saves. Ultimately they were going to wear us down and they did.

“The pleasing thing is we were still there with 75 minutes gone. We just couldn’t find what we needed to push it to penalties.”