Fulham manager Marco Silva has praised young defender Luc de Fougerolles for his debut performance against Ipswich Town last night.
Silva was speaking to the club’s official website as Fulham reached the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
It was a delightful performance for a much-changed Whites line-up at Portman Road.
Harry Wilson, Rodrigo Muniz and Tom Cairney scored the goals that earned Fulham a clash against Everton in the next round.
The young Brazilian has been praised by his teammates after he scored his first goal of the campaign, latching onto a phenomenal pass from Andreas Pereira.
However, when the team sheet was released, there was one name that fans’ eyes were drawn to.
Luc de Fougerolles was selected by Silva to make his professional debut against Ipswich and did brilliantly.
Alongside Calvin Bassey, he was solid at the back and looked accomplished when in possession, building on the encouraging displays he put in during pre-season in the United States.
Fulham’s academy keeps producing young stars and the Canadian teenager could be the latest to break into the first team.
Silva impressed with De Fougerolles after Ipswich Town performance
Asked about the 18-year-old, Silva said: “About Luc [De Fougerolles], the boy deserves [his chance], that is true.
“I know that he’s just 18, all that stuff, we have some problems in that area of the pitch, we cannot hide that situation.
“Busy week for us last Sunday we played against Brighton, it’s going to be an early kick-off on Saturday and I didn’t have doubts to start with him to be honest because he’s showing to me and giving me the confidence that he’s become ready to have this type of chance.
“It’s a moment for him, congratulations for him, he’s a young lad, really humble boy, he’s always open-minded to work and at the end of the day he’s showing in training sessions that he deserves his chance and he got it.”
De Fougerolles wasn’t the only youngster handed a debut by Marco Silva against Ipswich last night.
Devan Tanton came off the bench in the closing moments to make his senior bow and is a sign of how strong Fulham’s academy is right now.
There are plenty more players knocking on the door or out on loan who could be first-team players in the future.
De Fougerolles looks like a player who could easily feature more often this season at centre-back or right-back.
It feels like it’s only a matter of time until he’s a regular member of the first-team squad.