Thread by @peterrutzler

Silva spoke to the media this morning. On form post WC: "Even before the break, when we lost last minute v Utd and City, we were in good form. (The WC) was a moment for us to work. It was good four weeks for us. We worked on some important things, standards, principles." #FFC

On work done in that time: "Some players arrived in the last days of the market. Some of them were with us 3 months. It was like we started again. These moments are important. It was an unusual thing for all of us. We are pleased with how we restarted."

"Palace gave us confidence. And then against Southampton and Leicester, even if we didn't play at our best level we showed different aspects. Commitment, belief, togetherness."

On selection for FA Cup: "It is really important competition for me, for us, for our players, for the club. I think everyone has to respect the FA Cup.

"Of course It's a really busy period. It's really really tough. We played three games in nine days. After a long break it's tough, dangerous even.

"It's difficult to understand why we have a game in the middle of next week. It's almost impossible for us to play that day. "

"They have created a scenario for us where we play on Thursday night v Chelsea, and then 2pm on Sunday v Newcastle. After this busy period, with a lot of weeks ahead of us in Feb/March, it doesn't make sense at all to make the players play less than 72 hours between two games"

Don't want to break momentum: "Unfortunately we didn't have a good experience in the Carabao Cup. It was the beginning of the season, many players had justed arrived. It was not a good experience and it was the toughest moment of the season.

"We have the aim to have a good run"

"We have to assess our players and not take risks. The numbers are not big in our squads. I know what it means to have some problems in certain positions. We will respect Hull and we are there to get to the next round."

On Hull memories: "Great great memories. My first time in the PL. I arrived in January in a tough moment. For the fans and players. Firstly the way they welcomed us, myself and our staff, they were special for us in their moment. We made a huge impact."

On window: "All the focus is on our players. We know the positions we should strengthen. In some positions, if something happened we don't have probably the best replacements.
"We want someone who can add something important. If not, we will go in same way (as we are)"

On team news, Silva said there was nothing new other than Shane Duffy being unwell during the week. He won't be involved tomorrow.

On Jean Michael Seri: "It will be a pleasure to be with him again. I have kept in contact with him. He knows I'm still supporting him and I'm sure he's supporting us as well. We created a really good relationship and that won't stop because he changed club."

"The decision (not to extend his contract) was a tough one. He was so important for me, one of the players that understood well what I want from his position, No 6. But we knew what the Premier League demanded from us. Sometimes you have to take tough decisions."

"But it was taken with (the feeling) that it was best solution."

Head over heart? "Yes, definitely."