Brentford boss never feared QPR fightback
Proud Brentford boss Dean Smith insisted he never feared his side would throw away their lead against QPR.
The Bees reached the third round of the Carabao Cup in fine style, thrashing their neighbours 4-1 at Loftus Road.
Darnell Furlong pulled a goal back after Ariel Borysiuk’s own goal, John Egan’s header and Neal Maupay’s cool finish had put the visitors three up.
Idrissa Sylla missed Rangers’ best chance of a second goal before Josh Clarke scored in the 83rd minute to seal the Bees’ victory.
Rangers manager Ian Holloway suggested the outcome might have been very different had his team managed to score during a spell of second-half pressure.
But Smith said: “I felt that we’d won the game. I felt at 3-0 it was game over.
“They got the goal and then had a couple of chances, and if they scored one of them you might have got a bit nervous, but I trust the players.
“At times in the second half it wasn’t the way we would want to play, but the players are good enough to get themselves out of anything.
“Their goal just before half-time probably gave them a bit of hope and they put us under pressure in the second half and we had to show resilience.
“We always felt there would be another chance to kill the game on the counter attack. We always felt if we passed the ball there would be an opportunity.
“The first 40 minutes were outstanding. We caused them problems and 3-0 was certainly worthy of our play in that 40 minutes.
“To come here and do that to your local rivals is very pleasing.”
