Frank frustrated but praises Bees players after draw

Thomas Frank was frustrated that Brentford did not beat 10-man promotion rivals Swansea but was pleased with their performance in the 1-1 draw.

The Bees stayed fourth in the Championship table after earning a point in Wales.

And boss Frank said: “It’s a massive disappointment that we didn’t get the three points when they were there to grab them.

“But I am very pleased and very proud with the performance. I thought we put in a top performance out there.

“The way we just went here and just dominated from the first minute to the last minute was very impressive.

“We took the initiative and I thought Swansea were passive. I can only praise us massively on this and even until the red card it was 12-1 in shots which is crazy in a top game – it shows everything about our performance.”

Swansea’s equaliser came direct from a free-kick which went through David Raya’s hands, with the Brentford players claiming their goalkeeper had been impeded by former Bees captain Jake Bidwell.

Frank was not so sure, saying: “Of course when we then get in front and it is 11 against 10, of course we need to win it, but we know in football the margins are so small and one tiny mistake on their goal – maybe a foul, maybe not – and that’s the equaliser.”

Frank said he told the players he was “so proud” of them and that they would need to reach similar standards in their next game against struggling Wycombe on Saturday.

“I told them this is the way to start the second half of the season with a performance like this where we completely outplayed Swansea,” he said.

“But that also puts demands on ourselves, so we need to be bang up there on Saturday against Wycombe.

“We didn’t lose, but we need to have that bounce back mentality and irritation (at not winning), so we come flying out against Wycombe.”