Fit-again Canos savours ‘amazing’ hat-trick

Sergi Canos was beaming after scoring the first hat-trick of his career in Brentford’s 3-2 win at Cardiff.

The winger has battled back from a cruciate ligament injury to regain his place in the side.

And he said: “It felt great to win the game first of all, and to score the hat-trick was amazing.”

Canos scored with a dipping 25-yard volley from outside the penalty area, and from two goals where he cut in from the left wing.

“I enjoyed the second goal best,” he said. “It’s more like me and what I can do and I enjoyed it a lot.”

However, he admitted: “For the third goal, I was crossing – I am going to be honest. I am not going to lie to anyone as I wanted Ivan (Toney) to score, so I was lucky!”

The goals clearly meant a lot to the 23-year-old, who added: “I can’t tell you how difficult it has been in the last year – when I got injured and this year until I came back to play.

“Only my family and friends and people in the club know how difficult it was to come back, but it means everything to me.

“Everyone after my big injury kept believing in me – the manager and staff at the club, everyone gave me the motivation to come back and be how I am now.”

Canos paid tribute to the team spirit in a Brentford side which is now unbeaten in 15 league and cup games.

He said: “The inside of this team is amazing. We are not team-mates, we are more than that and I think we show it every game.

“We show that we care about each other and we repair each other’s mistakes. It’s what we tried to do today – it was a hard win but we got there together.

“I feel we have got more experience this year compared to last year. When we lost in the play-off final, it gave us a little bit extra for this year.

“It’s been a tough start to the season to reach the levels everyone expected, but it is nice to play with these boys.”

Canos is well-known for his love of the club and his relationship with Brentford’s supporters. It is no coincidence that he scored his first goal since his comeback when fans returned for the first time, against Blackburn earlier this month.

“It did make a difference having fans there,” he said. “I like to play in front of fans. In my case they give me something extra. I don’t know what it is or how I can explain it, but they give me something that I don’t have.

“It’s been difficult to come back after my injury with no fans there. That Blackburn game was also the first time my mum and sister had been in the stands since my injury.”