Brentford trio set to remain out until after World Cup

By

Brentford defenders Pontus Jansson and Aaron Hickey are not expected to return before the World Cup due to injury.

Jansson has missed the past two games after suffering a hamstring injury in the goalless draw with Bournemouth earlier this month.

Hickey, meanwhile, rolled his ankle which caused him to suffer ankle ligament damage.


“Unfortunately it’s not a short term one,” boss Thomas Frank said about Hickey.

“He will be out until the World Cup as well. He twisted the ankle so has some ligament damage.

“Pontus will be out, most likely, until the World Cup.”

Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha is also unlikely to recover before the World Cup break, which starts in November, after suffering an ankle ligament injury while saving a penalty from Kristoffer Ajer in training.

Midfielder Christian Norgaard continues to step up his recovery from an Achilles problem and has been out running on the grass, with Frank hopeful that he will be able to return next month.

Reports this week have suggested Frank is in discussions over signing a new deal with the club, despite having only signed a new contract in January which runs until 2025.

Frank says he is in constant discussions with the club’s owner Matthew Benham and director of football Phil Giles and is happy at the club.

“There’s a lot of rumours out there, in many ways,” Frank said.

“One thing for sure is I’m very happy here at Brentford. There’s a lot of things to achieve and we’re very ambitious.

“But I have a contract which runs until 2025, that’s it. Let’s see what happens in the future.

“I speak constantly to Matthew and Phil about everything but we are focusing on the Chelsea game tomorrow.

“It’s a very unpredictable team to guess the line-up and shape which we actually expected, that’s what he (Graham Potter) did at Brighton as well.

“He has such a talented and gifted squad so no matter which players he puts out there, there’s more or less 22 equally good players.

“But we’ve prepared for the different shapes, the different players. And we know what we do. We always mainly focus on us and then try to, a tiny bit in the context of our players and the way we want to do it, focus on our strengths.”