Proud Brentford boss Uwe Rosler paid tribute to his young team after they prevailed in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Swindon to reach the League One play-off final.
Denied automatic promotion by Marcello Trotta’s last-gasp penalty miss against Doncaster nine days ago, they again had victory snatched from them when the Robins equalised in the dying seconds to force extra time.
But the Bees battled on and secured a trip to Wembley, where they will face Yeovil for a place in the Championship, after keeper Simon Moore saved Miles Storey’s penalty and Adam Forshaw netted the winning spot-kick.
Rosler said: “We were absolutely magnificent and it was fantastic to see my squad, most of them growing from boys into men and learning to handle big games better and better and better.
“To concede in the last seconds of the game and then come back from that – they never felt sorry for themselves, they just went on again.
“I’m so privileged for my first job in England to have a squad like that. Thank you to my squad, my board and especially my sporting director [Mark Warburton] for getting us to Wembley.
“I’ve not been there before as a player or manager. Thanks to everyone for getting me there.
“Without the quality and desire we have here we wouldn’t have come through today.”
And the German reserved special praise for Trotta, who worked tirelessly up front before being substituted.
The striker was carried aloft by jubilant Brentford fans at the end of a dramatic encounter.
“It’s probably not a day to highlight one or two players, but we have to mention Marcello,” he said.
“What he went through after the Doncaster game, a lot of players would struggle with, but that was a defining moment in his career. He was magnificent.”
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