Flekken has silenced critics, says Bees boss Frank

Brentford boss Thomas Frank says Mark Flekken’s display against Manchester City should silence the goalkeeper’s critics.

Flekken, who was signed from Freiburg in the summer as a replacement for David Raya, has endured a mixed debut season in the Premier League but was outstanding against City.

The 31-year-old pulled off five excellent first-half saves to keep a dominant City at bay before Phil Foden scored on the stroke of half-time on the way to scoring a hat-trick.

Flekken’s future as the club’s long-term number one is unclear after the Bees signed Iceland international keeper Hakon Valdimarsson last month, but Frank backed the Dutchman to continue his fine form despite keeping only three clean sheets all season.

“Overall Flekken had his best game of the season and I was pleased to hear the fans singing his name, he deserved that,” Frank said

“I think he has been better than the criticism he has been getting. I don’t think it has been in the ground, but I am told its more from keyboard warriors.

“He’s been good with his distribution and made some very crucial saves. We showed just why we signed him.”

Defeat by City was Brentford’s seventh loss in eight games and leaves the team just three points off the drop zone with a trip to in-form Wolves coming up on Saturday before they host Liverpool then face City again at the Etihad Stadium.

But Frank believes his side’s performances are better than their recent results.

“I feel that we need to take a lot from that our last three performances,” he said.

“Against City at home and Spurs away we actually played better than the Forest game we won at home.

“There are lots of positives, Neal Maupay scoring fifth game in a row, and we also have Ivan (Toney) back.”