Fulham boss Marco Silva avoids Man Utd apology as Bruno Fernandes video addressed

Fulham manager Marco Silva sympathises with Bruno Fernandes but did not get drawn into apologising after a video appeared to mock the Manchester United midfielder.

Fulham's official TikTok account divided opinion earlier this week, posting a video of Fernandes appearing to be in significant pain before rising to his feet quickly as a United attack continued. The clip was uploaded alongside comical music and the caption 'So glad he is OK'.

Erik ten Hag branded critics of his captain 'pathetic' on Thursday and insisted it was 'not right' that the official account of a professional football club suggested otherwise on social media - adding that they should say sorry. Silva was then quizzed about the issue in his pre-game press conference, with no apology forthcoming.

“I am not a big fan of social media but as you would expect I am aware of this," Silva told reporters on Friday. "It was a reaction from Ten Hag. When a manager defends a football player I think it is a normal situation. With one of our players, I am going to defend them to the last.

"We all noticed that Ten Hag said he had not seen the post. He was speaking after a question from a journalist. I haven’t heard the question - I don’t know how the journalist put that question. For a manager in that moment, if you say to me that 10 minutes ago if any club said something about my player, I am going to defend my player even if I haven’t seen it. That is the situation.”

Fernandes was a doubt for the FA Cup clash against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday but did manage to start and play 90 minutes. The 29-year-old has incredibly never been ruled out of a game through injury in over 500 games during his career, a run that is expected to continue at Manchester City on Sunday.