Frank admits ruthless Leicester ruined Bees gameplan

Thomas Frank admitted that Leicester’s blistering start to the second half ripped up his gameplan in Brentford’s 3-1 FA Cup defeat by the Foxes.

The visitors scored twice in the first six minutes after the interval, after the Bees had led 1-0 at half-time, and the Brentford boss said that was why he brought on young substitutes Aaron Pressley, Alex Gilbert and Max Haygarth, rather than more experienced heads.

“We played a good first half and started terrible in the second half and gave two soft goals away that we shouldn’t give away,” Frank said.

“If that didn’t happen and we had stayed 1-0 up, then I would have done things differently and Rico (Henry) and Henrik (Dalsgaard) would have come on to the pitch, because we wanted to win.

“But when we are 2-1 down against the third team in the Premier League – a top side as we just saw – then you know it is going to be very difficult to score two goals.

“So that’s why I took that decision. We wanted to go for it, but that left some gaps.”

Frank added: “I can’t praise the young lads enough. They put in a massive effort and showed a top mentality.

“It was really valuable for them and there was big value in their performances and the experience they can take forwards.”

Thoughts now turn to Wednesday’s crucial Championship game at Swansea. The hosts are second in the table – two places and two points above the Bees, who have a game in hand on them.

It is the first of six consecutive Wednesday matches for Brentford – a run of 12 league matches in only six weeks.