Marco Silva admitted that Fulham's battle to qualify for next season's European competition has "become much tougher" and their situation has become even more dire following their 3-1 home defeat to Everton.

Fulham have lost five of their last eight games, a slump that has all but destroyed their hopes of a Europa League spot, and they are now four points behind eighth-placed Brentford, who face off next weekend.

Silva said after the game: "We have to do our job. If we can't do it to the level we should, then the performance of other teams is irrelevant."

"It is much more difficult now and we have to analyse why we have not been able to maintain the level we should have in the last six or seven games - whether it was the last-minute goal or the loopholes in our set-piece defence."

"I still believe that with the way we've played for most of the season, we deserve a better finish and we have to work hard for it."

In this game, Fulham was reversed again when they were leading, and the points they lost from leading situations this season have accumulated to 28 points. Silva said: "At the same time, we also got nearly 20 points (18 points) when we were behind."

"But I always hope that the team can control the tempo of the game at the beginning, score the first goal, and fight for victory from that moment on."