Marco Silva will be keen for his Fulham side to bounce back this midweek after their first loss of the season came at the hands of Blackpool on Saturday.

The Cottagers had been untouchable before the international break and despite still being firmly fancied for automatic promotion, will be analysing a few things that went wrong at Bloomfield Road.

Silva's men created chances equating to under one expected goal for the first time in the league this season, with Neil Critchley's Tangerines defending extremely well and potentially providing a blueprint for the rest of the division on how to combat Fulham's star studded line-up.

Birmingham City pose an unorthodox threat with Marc Roberts' long throws, tall, physical forward players and skill from wide areas, it will be an interesting examination of Fulham's resolve.

Here, then, we take a look a two tactical tweaks Marco Silva could consider implementing for Fulham's trip to Birmingham City...

Neeskens Kebano

Neeskens Kebano has been a canny operator for Fulham, particularly at Championship level, since his arrival from Genk in 2016 and this season is no different.

The 29-year-old scored two crucial play-off semi final goals when the club were promoted to the Premier League in 2019/20 and can arguably be more effective than Domingos Quina and Ivan Cavaleiro who started in Blackpool.

He played an important role in Fulham's 2-1 away win at Millwall earlier on this season and there are parallels to be drawn between that match and this one, both sides who play direct football but can be vulnerable on the counter attack.

Harrison Reed

Harrison Reed is a classy midfielder who could fill in for a Premier League side if required, so for him to be playing second fiddle in the second tier speaks volumes to the strength in depth in Fulham's squad.

Jean-Michael Seri has been excellent so far this season however a double pivot with Reed could take them to another level.

Josh Onomah was deployed alongside the Ivorian last time out and he too has grown into an excellent player at Championship, but he is a player suited to a more advanced role.

He does not have the intelligence out of possession and in deeper areas than that of Reed.

The 26-year-old alongside Seri in midfield would give Silva a great deal of control at St Andrew's.