Bees boss hails ‘massive win and massive performance’

Brentford boss Thomas Frank hailed his players for their response to last week’s 5-1 hammering at Newcastle in the 2-0 win over Brighton.

Ivan Toney opened the scoring in the first half, flicking Frank Onyeka’s pull-back beyond keeper Robert Sanchez before adding a second from the penalty spot in the second half after being fouled by Joel Veltman.

And Frank lauded the character shown by his players to bounce back.

“It was a massive win and a massive performance,” he said.

“I really loved the character of the players. I think they just showed that little bit of extra determination to win a football match.

“When you lose a game, it’s all about how you come back from that. It is about how we handle our setbacks. How we handle that and how we move forward from that is what defines us.

“I think good teams, they bounce back after a loss or a not good performance, so that was very satisfying.

“I asked the players to show togetherness, attitude and hard work, and we needed to do the basics right because I think the last couple of weeks we’ve not been at our highest level and maybe not in form, with some players.

“So if we could win the 50-50s, if we could run, run, and run a bit more, harder than Brighton, and win the set-piece battle, then I knew the basics would be there to win the football match.

“In spells I would have loved to play a little bit more but where we are now, it’s all about winning. After a very good start to the season, I think we lost a tiny bit, so it’s a good win.”

Brentford were without Aaron Hickey, who missed out after twisting his ankle in training.

The full-back underwent an assessment on the day of the game and Brentford are waiting to hear back on the extent of the injury.