Rosler comforted by owner’s assurance
Brentford manager Uwe Rosler is confident of keeping his squad together for another League One promotion battle following a dressing-room visit from club owner Matthew Benham at Wembley.
Moments after the Bees were left in despair as their hopes of promotion were crushed by in a 2-1 defeat in the play-off final, Rosler found solace in his boss’ words.
“The owner came in the dressing room after the game and found some encouraging words for the players, and for also for me, regarding next season,” Rosler said.
“From tomorrow we are having meetings with the owner to start securing players, which is our challenge.
“This is just the start of something new for next season. The players will use this for motivation.
“We don’t know how to give up and we will fight for promotion again – I’m sure of it. In terms of motivation, this team is hungry anyway.
”I think that the players are realising where they are in their career, what they have lived through these past 12 months, and that Brentford is a very good place to be.
“This club has not been on this level for decades, so as I said before the game whatever happened today this squad can be proud.
“That last step is the hardest to take and right now it is hard to take because we couldn’t do it.”
First-half goals from League One golden boot winner Paddy Madden and Dan Burn proved too much for Rosler’s men to overturn after the break, despite controlling possession in the second half.
Harlee Dean pulled a goal back on 51 minutes, escaping attention inside the box where he powered his header from Adam Forshaw’s corner past inspired Glovers goalkeeper Marek Stech.
Rosler admitted the Wembley occasion got the better of his players in the opening 40 minutes.
“Some of the players were nervous today, especially at the beginning and our game didn’t function as it should have,” he said.
“That first goal killed us even more as it hurt our confidence. That second goal came at a very bad moment for us, but as they say in life when something bad happens it can be the start of something good.
“We did a good job in the second half after our goal and we had them on their knees, but we couldn’t find the cutting edge for that second goal.”
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