Silva convinced Fulham are ready to shed yo-yo tag after clinching another promotion to the Prem

Marco Silva says the time has come to stop worrying about the threat of instant relegation and to embrace the challenge of becoming an established Premier League side.

The Whites secured their third promotion to the top flight in five years with a 3-0 thumping of Preston at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night.

Now, they must find a way of avoiding the fate that befell them on the two previous occasions they went up – a quick return to the Championship.

The Whites boss is convinced it can be done.

“It’s a nice word yo-yo team. It’s a good nickname,” he said. “But we have to be not too concerned about this, that’s the first thing. We know that it’s a huge challenge for us.

“We got the promotion earlier in the season [this time] and I think that will be a good help for us to prepare everything in the right way, with time, because our next pre-season will be really important for us.

“Now is the moment for us to keep working for the next four games and start preparing well for the next season because the challenge is huge, definitely, but if you work so hard to achieve it, you have to be really positive.

“You cannot go for a season with this concern [relegation] on our mind, you have to go with full desire and ambition.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult for teams going up to achieve what they want the season after, but it’s part of our job. It’s a fantastic challenge but we have all the conditions to do well to make this club a Premier League club.”

The Whites again looked majestic at the Cottage and with Aleksander Mitrovic taking his season’s tally to 40, this promotion has been a stroll compared to the previous two, which required play-off success.

But Silva insists it has not been as easy as his players have made it appear.

“Our boys have been brilliant,” he said. “You can have the sensation it was easy, but nothing is easy in football.

“It’s my first time in the Championship and I got the feeling it is difficult and how you have to have a top performance to win as well against the last in the table.

“And if you achieve this with four games to play and with the feeling this was not easy but comfortable for us, it is because we did things well. Because we were so dominant to win most all season it gave this sensation but for us it was really hard.

“The boys know how they really worked hard and it was what we demanded from them from the first day.

“They know the relationship is fantastic and we work in a fantastic environment, but it was tough and I’m really proud of them – not just because we achieved a fantastic thing, but the way we did it was fantastic.”

Silva added: “Now we have to get the next job done. The first goal for us was direct promotion. It’s good to see the players are growing and are better now than at the beginning of the season. Most of the time we were on top of the table and we want to finish on top of the table.

“It will be a different feeling from tonight if we get first position and we will fight for it.”