Frank admits Bees were second best

Thomas Frank admitted that Brentford were second best in their 1-0 defeat at Norwich.

Emi Buendia’s first-half goal was enough for the Canaries, whose win took them 10 points clear at the top of the Championship.

“It was a tight game between two good teams, but where there should have been a winner, it was Norwich who deserved it,” Bees boss Frank said.

“Our performance was good enough to win a lot of games, but if you want to win against the top team, you need to be better than we were today. We needed to be better on the ball, and better in our decision-making.

“The reason why they deserved to win was because they had a few more bigger chances in total. We didn’t hit a high enough level, and in a tight game like this the margins are so small.

“I would have loved to have hit that high level in a top game against a top team.

“I want to congratulate Norwich, they will 100% get promoted and I can’t see them blowing this one.”

Brentford had a late penalty shout for a challenge on Bryan Mbeumo, and Frank said: “I think the penalty was 50/50 – sometimes you get them and it may have been different with VAR, but today we didn’t get it.”

Despite the defeat, Brentford are still second in the table on goal difference from Watford. and Frank said: “If you had offered me this at the start of the season I 100% would have taken it. We are in a very fine place.”

But before the game the club revealed that key midfielder Josh Dasilva is going to be out until after the international break at the end of March because of a troublesome hip injury.

“Josh doesn’t need surgery, he just needs rest to get it right,” Frank explained.

Dasilva joins Rico Henry on the sidelines, and Frank denied that the pair’s absence affected his side’s intensity at Carrow Road.

“The defeat was nothing to do with that,” he said. “We were just not good enough on the ball and all over the pitch lacked a bit.”