Alex Iwobi's importance to Fulham underlined again as Marco Silva admits rest is "impossible"

Head coach Marco Silva conceded that leaving the midfielder out of his plans was never a realistic option.

Despite making ten changes from the side that had suffered a 3-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City just days earlier, Silva once again found Iwobi indispensable.

"Alex, another game, it was not possible to rest him," Silva said, as quoted by Pulse Sports.

"Probably it was a good game to rest him, but we don't have many solutions to do so, and the backline was solid enough."

Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Iwobi has played 448 of a possible 450 minutes across all competitions, a statistic that highlights just how heavily the Cottagers rely on his energy, intelligence, and versatility.

Fulham's rotation policy saw fellow Nigerian Calvin Bassey start on the bench, while Samuel Chukwueze was left out of the matchday squad entirely. Yet Iwobi once again led the line-up from the first whistle.

After Stoke City opened the scoring, the Hale End Academy graduate nearly marked his 100th Fulham appearance in memorable fashion, only to see his header drift inches wide of the left post.

Since the start of the 2025-26 campaign, Iwobi has made 35 appearances for club and country, further underlining his durability and influence. For Silva, rotating his key man may be ideal in theory - but in practice, it remains virtually impossible.