Marco Silva believes the pressure on Rodrigo Muniz’s shoulders is a “privilege” after the Fulham striker extended his scoring form against Tottenham.

The Brazilian has starred for the west Londoners in recent weeks, scoring seven goals in his last seven appearances in the Premier League, including an impressive brace in the 3-0 win over Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs earlier this month.

Muniz’s rise to become the Cottagers’ main striker comes after he struggled for minutes at the start of the season, being out of favour and sitting behind Raul Jimenez and Carlos Vinicius in the pecking order up front.

Speaking ahead of Fulham’s clash with Sheffield United on Saturday, head coach Silva said: “The pressure is a privilege for Rodrigo’s situation.

“He is in a much better position now than he was three months ago. Why should he feel so much pressure now? Three months ago he was on the bench and fighting to have a chance to score.

“He’s playing so well, he’s improving and working hard and scoring goals so why should he feel so much pressure now?

“The defenders are more aware of him and it’s fantastic for a striker when you feel the people around you trust that you can solve the problems for us and that you can be a decisive player.

“I see it as a privilege rather than something which is not good.”

Chris Wilder’s Blades sit bottom of the table and are looking for just a fourth league win of the season after a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth last time out snapped a three-match losing run.

Silva warned that his players cannot afford to be complacent and expects their hosts to bring the fight at Bramall Lane.

“If we go into the game complacent then we are going to have problems, we will be surprised,” Silva added.

“We have to have the same ambition, focus and desire which we played the last few games with.

“They will fight really hard to get the points and they are not in a position they wanted, bottom of the table is tough and every game where you don’t get points you are getting more in trouble.

“They have shown the capacity to react and their last game was an example.”

Fulham’s form of four wins in seven has seen them close the gap on teams in contention for European places and Silva insists motivation is high among his players to finish the season well.

“We are full of motivation,” he said. “The motivation was really high against Tottenham and we felt that at Craven Cottage.

“It is about motivation, desire, the will to go every time and the commitment. We always have to be on top and it will always be the same for us. Every time we go into a match we have to do our maximum.”

Fulham advanced into the Carabao Cup fourth round after they fought hard to beat Norwich 2-1 at Craven Cottage.

Goals from Carlos Vinicius and Alex Iwobi were enough for Marco Silva’s men who responded well after the weekend’s lacklustre 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.

Fulham found success early on down the left flank through Willian and Fode Ballo-Toure, who created a 10th-minute chance for Vinicius that the striker headed over.

Vinicius justified a run out after his winner against Luton two weeks ago and he opened the scoring in the 10th minute.

Willian’s floated delivery found Iwobi at the back stick and he headed it across goal to Vinicius who tapped home.

Silva had called for more chances to be created during games and Fulham did just that through Harry Wilson, Willian and Tom Cairney.

Norwich responded and fluffed a golden chance to level against the run of play in the 19th minute when Przemyslaw Placheta’s driven cross fell kindly to Tony Springett, who dragged his shot wide.

Minutes later Norwich’s whipped corner found the head of towering centre-back Jaden Warner and Marek Rodak saved.

A neat switch from Wilson in the 39th minute resulted in the ball being played back in the other direction to Vinicius who should of doubled his tally from six yards.

The tide changed after half-time and it was Norwich’s turn to put pressure on the hosts.

It started with Sam McCallum who beautifully slalomed through white shirts before firing wide.

In the 51st minute, Kellen Fisher let fly from outside the box but his effort clipped the outside of Rodak’s post as Norwich were denied any rewards for their attacking flurry.

Craven Cottage demanded more and on the hour Silva’s men threw numbers forward in an effort to firm their grip on the tie.

Willian, who was the standout player for the hosts, delivered a floated corner which fell to the unmarked Wilson who sweetly volleyed past goalkeeper George Long before Adam Forshaw managed a last-ditch clearance off the line to keep it at 1-0.

But Fulham doubled their lead in the 72nd minute.

Iwobi drove forward with the ball and combined with Wilson before the Nigerian guided the ball into the bottom corner to open his Fulham account.

But typical of the end-to-end game, Norwich equalised after 75 minutes through Borja Sainz.

The explosive Adam Idah burst away on a counter-attack and found Sainz whose first attempt was denied by Rodak before he managed to bundle the ball into the net to give the Norfolk side hope.

Despite Norwich’s best efforts Fulham held their nerve during five minutes added time to seal victory.