Silva convinced Fulham were hard done by, with early dismissal of Chalobah

Marco Silva bemoaned what he feels is a lack of consistency from officials after Nathaniel Chalobah was given a straight red only eight minutes into Fulham's game against Newcastle at the Cottage.

The midfielder's was given a yellow at first by ref Darren England but it was upgraded to red after a call from Mike Dean on VAR duty. Fulham went on to lose 4-1, unsurprisingly.

The Portuguese boss had difficulty accepting the sending off was deserved - though replays suggest he could have few real arguments - but that did not prevent him from citing ill luck.

"Of course it was a harsh tackle, but the problem is we don't have consistency in this type of situation," he said. "I'm 100 per cent sure in the next few weeks in some really tough, competitive matches, we'll see more tackles like that one and it will be a yellow card.

"It makes me and other people who are in charge not to understand the inconsistency in these type of decisions.

"It made things easier for Newcastle. I think it's clear we had a game until the sixth or eighth minute and after that it was a completely different game. I think that's normal when you get a red card so early in the game.

"Even so, I think our first half after the red card was not at a level it should be. Apart from the second goal, which was a great combination and finish from [Miguel] Almiron, the way we let them create chances was too sloppy.

"When you are pushed back with 10 men, that's normal, but you should be much more aggressive, much more compact and not concede goals the way we conceded them."

To compound a woeful afternoon, Fulham lost Aleksandar Mitrovic to injury in the first half. Silva said it was 'too early' to say how long it would keep him out of action. He did pick up a slight knock on the ankle on international duty and the injury may be related.

With Antonee Robinson out, the Whites have problem at left-back and were forced into changes defensively and PSG loan signing Layvin Kurzawa started, though not fully fit and he did not reach half time.

"He's not training every time 100 per cent. He did a good a week and we expected him to do at least 60 to 80 minutes," said the Fulham boss. Willian (calf) is also not expected back quickly.

"When we have all the players ready, we are strong," Silva said. "We are here to find solutions, if we can, to get the team as strong as we can."