Silva says Mitrovic penalty award was justice after last week's reverse decision at West Ham

Marco Silva came close to admitting the penalty Aleksandar Mitrovic won to earn Fulham a deserved point was fortunate - but believes that if the Craig Dawson one was given last week at West Ham, it was only right that his side should get the verdict this time.

The Fulham striker made a predictably significant return after missing last week's game through injury - winning and then converting from the spot early in the second half.

It was the Whites' second equaliser of the match and put them firmly in the driving the seat. But try as they might, they could not quite force a winner in what was a thrilling encounter.

Silva felt it was two points dropped, given the momentum his side built up after Mitrovic's goal, but he did not exactly take exception to the verdict of opposite number Gary O'Neil that the Serb had conned the ref by dragging Jefferson Lerma to the ground, rather than the other way round.

"I understand what Gary is saying," said the Fulham boss. "What I want to see - all of us managers want to see is some consistency in decisions.

"Everyone last week said that it was a penalty for West Ham against Fulham. David Moyes said it was a clear, clear penalty. So if that's a penalty, for consistency, this one has to be a penalty, 100 per cent sure, because it's the same thing.

"It's consistency you want to see, as a manger, in the level we are."

Silva said Issa Diop was chosen ahead of Tosin for purely 'technical reasons' and said the defender, despite scoring, still has work to do to reach his best level.

"He needs more time to be at his best, because he has high quality," Silva said. "We have to keep working with him to keep improving."

Speaking about the game in general, Silva added: "After the last two defeats for us, we knew that it was crucial to start well on the front foot, to create goals and be confident. What happened was the opposite. First minute of the match we conceded a goal.

"But after that, I have to be proud of the reaction of our team. They took control of the match, pushed them back and created some dangerous moments around their box.

"We made changes which had a great impact on the game and the second half was all from ourselves and after we equalised, we played so many times around their box that we could score even more goals.

"It was something that our players probably deserved, with the character they showed."