Frank keen to avoid wholesale Brentford changes

Thomas Frank insists Brentford won’t fall into the trap of making wholesale changes to their squad following promotion to the Premier League.

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Brentford will play their first top-flight match since 1947 when Arsenal visit the Brentford Community Stadium on Friday, having made just three major additions in Kristoffer Ajer, Frank Onyeka and Yoane Wissa, with Emiliano Marcondes and Henrik Dalsgaard departing after their contracts expired last month.

Eighteen-year-old Myles Peart-Harris has also signed from Chelsea but is likely to start the season with the club’s B team.

There has been a temptation by many clubs that get promoted from the Championship to make several signings in a bid to stave off relegation.

Fulham were a prime example of that last season, with 11 new players, including seven high-profile loanees, were brought in to replace many of the squad that won promotion – only for the team to return straight back down to the Championship.

Many of those sidelined last season are now tasked with trying to get the Whites back up once more.

Although Ajer, Onyeka, Wissa and Peart-Harris are unlikely to be the only new additions at Brentford before the transfer window closes on August 31, Frank maintains it’s important for the club to show faith in the players that won promotion.

Clubs that have enjoyed prolonged spells in the top division such as Burnley, Stoke, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace all initially showed faith in the players that got them promoted and Frank hopes that approach will work for the Bees.

“It is something I am very aware of, you need to show trust in the players that have done such a top job for the club,” Frank said.

“It’s why it was a very tricky situation with Henrik Dalsgaard and Emiliano Marcondes who were out of contract and left – they deserve massive praise for the job they did for the club.

“We have signed three slash four new players. Myles Peart-Harris can be a very good player in the future but the future can be a weeks’ time or a year down the line.

“But we have signed three players I think can help straightaway and it is now down to Kristoffer Ajer, Frank Onyeka and Yoane Wissa to show me and the rest of the squad they want to play regularly in this team.

“I am tiny bit biased, but I think that is the way to do it because you need that togetherness, you need that alignment and that cohesion in the squad and knowledge of what I want and what the squad needs.

“I really do think this is the best way for us to tackle the Premier League.”