Norgaard closing in on return to action

Brentford could welcome back Christian Norgaard for next week’s trip to Nottingham Forest, though tomorrow’s visit of Wolves is likely to come too soon for the midfielder.

Norgaard has been out since August with an Achilles problem but has been training with the squad this week.

Keane Lewis-Potter will, however, be involved in the squad against Wolves on Saturday after missing out entirely in Sunday’s 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa as he continued to recover from a foot injury.

And defender Ben Mee is also available being an unused substitute in last week’s loss due to carrying a slight ankle knock.

“It’s going very well with Christian Norgaard. He’s trained with the team,” boss Thomas Frank said.

“It will probably be too early to involve him in the squad (against Wolves) but it’s very positive. He could be possible for next week.

“Keane is in a much better place. He will be involved in the squad on Saturday, no doubt about that. He trained well this week so it’s positive.

“He’s played minutes in almost every game, has done well and has looked promising. Then unfortunately he got injured and was out.

“So we’re looking forward to getting him back to top shape. He’s had some good weeks of training and this week, he’s been looking very good.”

Brentford found themselves three goals down after 15 minutes in Sunday’s loss to Aston Villa before conceding another in the second half to their former striker Ollie Watkins.

And Frank says it was difficult to accept the manner of the defeat though believes that, like the 5-1 hammering at Newcastle United, it can also be considered a somewhat “freak result”.

“It was a tough 24 hours,” Frank admitted.

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in my career, even as an under-8 coach, being three down after 12 minutes so that’s a little bit tough to take.

“But it’s football, it happens, I know this group of players have remarkable mentality and they are very, very committed to bouncing back against Wolves.

“It’s the Premier League. I think there’s a lot of clubs who are not top six that get into these patches during the season.

“I look at the performances and the two which stand out. Newcastle I would say, in a way, was a freak game with three very big personal errors and then this one (Aston Villa) also, in another strange way, was a freak one.

“It’s crazy how much we analyse one game. You go through all different bits – was it that or that or that we didn’t perform?

“Sometimes it’s maybe just down to that we conceded two goals after six minutes. Maybe that was enough to break the momentum or make it more difficult, mentally, to cope with it.

“It’s never an excuse. I just try to find solutions.”