Marco Silva reveals he wanted to substitute MORE than the three Fulham players he hauled off after just 31 minutes of their 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest

Marco Silva has claimed that he would have substituted more players during a disastrous first-half against Nottingham Forest if he could, as he slammed his team's woeful start at the City Ground. 

The Fulham boss turned to his bench after only 30 minutes of his side's 3-1 defeat, having witnessed them suffer a calamitous beginning to the contest. 

Calum Hudson-Odoi opened the scoring after only nine minutes before Chris Wood doubled the advantage for Nuno Espirito Santo's side. But despite bringing on Willian, Adama Traore and Tom Cairney - for Alex Iwobi, Harry Wilson and Sasa Lukic - the visitors fell further behind before the interval. 

Silva cut a dejected figure during his post-match interview and bemoaned his side's lacklustre display. The Portuguese insisted that the three players who left the field were not solely responsible and he, in fact, wanted to replace more of his players. 

'It was not just one thing [wrong with the performance],' he said. 'Unfortunately there were many. And it's not just because of the three players that came off after 30 minutes. 

'In that moment, if I could have changed more than those three players I would have. 

'We were too slow, not dynamic at all and off the ball we were really bad. Not aggressive not compact or solid and any team in this league will punish you if you're not solid enough.'

After their hammering in the first 45, Fulham returned an improved side and grabbed a goal back through Tosin Adarabioyo four minutes after the restart.  

The visitor's continued to push for a second and went close when the defender struck the woodwork from a set-piece. But despite their efforts, Forest were able to hold onto a vital win that saw them open up a three point gap over 17th-place Luton. 

Fulham remain 13th, having come into the game off the back of a 3-3 draw with Sheffield United last weekend. Silva revealed that he will be having words with his team in the coming days, ahead of their clash against Newcastle on Saturday. 

'Really disappointing evening, result, performance and certain standards were not on the pitch first-half,' he said. 'When these type of things happen you are going to suffer. 

'The reaction was there in the second-half but it was already too late. The chat with them at half-time was clear but the damage was too big. 

'We knew that we had to try and score an early goal. We did it, we created enough chances to probably score a second. 

'Most of things that went wrong for us came during the first-half. We didn't start the game and at the level we are playing, if you don't then you'll be punished. 

'Over the next few days we'll have more serious conversations about that because this is the first time where we have had a first-half like this one. It cannot happen again.'