Frank insists Toney’s absence won’t mean major change of tactics

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Thomas Frank insists the absence of Ivan Toney against Nottingham Forest will not change too much about the way his side approaches the game.

The Bees boss will be without the striker due to suspension after Toney picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 1-1 draw with Wolves.

Frank accepts there will have to make some minor tweaks, but he hopes other players can make an impact.


“We don’t have a like for like (replacement) so I would say the only difference is sometimes the out-ball, sometimes where we go longer in certain spells, is not as good a choice,” Frank said.

“But we will play another player up there who maybe adds a different skill set where we are tweaking it a tiny bit to hopefully still be a threat.

“We will not change our break throughs, or not doing crosses, so it just changes the game plan a little bit.

“We’ve played without Pontus (Jansson) and Christian (Norgaard) for the last quite a few games and now Ivan.

“But the games without Pontus and Christian, they are equally big voices. Others need to step in and do what they can to perform and help the team.

“I always think it’s an opportunity for others. Do I prefer to have Ivan in the team? Yes. But I can’t do anything about it, so I’m only focused on trying to put a good team of 11 players out there.

“Maybe there’s not the like for like replacement but the whole team and other players need to step up.”

Brentford have suffered heavy defeats in their past two away games, losing 5-1 at Newcastle followed by a 4-0 thrashing at Aston Villa, and are yet to win away this season.

It is a stark contrast to their home form so far this campaign, having lost just once at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Frank says there is not a lot of difference between the way he approaches games at home compared to opposition grounds.

“I don’t think I will do too much different,” he said.

“Of course we are aware (of the away form). I’m just going into this game playing against Nottingham with the approach to win it.

“I’m not changing too much when we play away and when we play at home. I’m aware of the fans and the atmosphere at the away grounds, but that’s just a minor thing.

“The tactical bit and the approach, if we want to press high or attack, is more or less the same.”