Marco Silva lauded “top professional” Bobby De Cordova-Reid and said he deserves his recent success after he scored the only goal during Fulham’s 1-0 win over Rotherham in the FA Cup third round.

De Cordova-Reid’s 24th-minute long-range stunner was the difference on the night and marked his second in as many games after his winner in Fulham’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the Premier League.

And Silva, who previously hailed De Cordova-Reid’s leadership, believes his goal will lift his confidence after he netted his fifth of the season.

Silva said: “He deserves it because he’s a top professional, he’s a vocal guy and one of the great examples we have at the club in terms of focus, able to play in any position and he’s always there.

“He deserves all the credit and he deserves these good moments and good weeks.

“It’s important for us and him because he needs these type of moments to lift his confidence and he needs the confidence to keep going in the direction we want him to be.

“Bobby has the capacity to score and tonight it was a great strike from him.”

Fulham played eight matches in December and they will also have a busy January schedule with a Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool coming later this month.

Silva credited his side’s effort in recent weeks and acknowledged the busy weeks ahead.

Fulham will also play west London rivals Chelsea and Everton in the Premier League.

Silva added: “It’s a great sign for us as a football club and our fans should be proud of us that we’ve started (the season) well.

“We have kept the club in all the competitions, it was a tough and busy December and we will have another tough month for us.

“It is really important for us to win tonight and not have a possible replay.”

Rotherham boss Leam Richardson believes his side, who sit bottom of the Championship, will grow after the defeat.

The Millers had little to show for their efforts on the night but came close when Jordan Hugill’s attempt was ruled out for offside.

Richardson said: “Congratulations to Fulham. We are disappointed when we lose a game but great credit goes to the players, we nullified them in many areas and had a disallowed goal so we will only grow from that as a group.”