Fulham manager Marco Silva said Jay Stansfield is ready to fight for a Premier League place after his side’s 2-0 Carabao Cup win against Birmingham.
But Silva admitted he cannot guarantee the England Under-21 international will still be at Craven Cottage by the end of the week.
Stansfield refused to celebrate his goal on his return to Birmingham as Fulham cruised into the third round.
The 21-year-old forward, who was Birmingham’s player of the year and 13-goal top scorer last season, netted after 14 minutes after Raul Jimenez’s 10th-minute penalty gave Fulham the lead.
“I’m almost 100 per cent sure that he’s going to be our player but I cannot guarantee that because it’s difficult to control the market,” said Silva.
“We have a plan for Jay. Two seasons ago it was clear he needed first-team football and he went to League One and he proved his quality there.
“Last season he made another step and he proved his quality at this club and in Championship football.
“The plan for him is to be part of our squad. It’s really tough to be part of the 11 in the Premier League, but he’s ready to fight for it.”
Silva also defended the 11 changes he made.
“I know it’s a big number and we had six debuts and some of the connections weren’t what they need to be in the future,” he said.
“But we were solid and clinical and ruthless in the way we punished them in the first two or three moments.”
Jimenez kept his nerve to coolly roll his penalty to the right of goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, who went the opposite way, after a handball by City left-back Alex Cochrane.
Stansfield controlled a long pass from new signing Joachim Andersen and curled the ball into the far corner.
The youngster refused to celebrate out of respect to the club where he spent last season and was applauded by the City fans.
Birmingham manager Chris Davies hit out at the decision to award the penalty.
“We started brightly but the penalty was an extremely difficult decision to accept,” he said.
“I know how hard it is for referees and officials and things happen quickly but if that was looked at by VAR then surely it would have been overturned.
“It was not a handball. Against a side like Fulham, to concede the first goal makes things difficult but the response was excellent.
“I thought we were the better team overall.
“We switched off from the striker run from Jay Stansfield and although it was a good finish, I felt it was against the run of play.
“Overall my overriding feeling is pride in the players for their work ethic, their attitude, the belief and the bravery they showed and for the quality of our play.”
