Brentford boss Dean Smith hailed his much-changed side after a 4-2 win at Southend in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
Smith opted to make 11 changes to his team at Roots Hall and was happy with those he brought in against the Shrimpers.
“I thought we deserved to win and we were very good in the first half,” said Smith.
“We moved the ball really well and I was really pleased Marcus (Forss) got a goal on his debut. He took his chance and that’s all you can ask.
“We made changes but you have to try and get the balance right. We have three games next week but a lot of those players who were out there tonight will play 25, 30 games this season and they needed a game.
“It’s been a good night and I’m happy to have got the win.”
The Bees began to pile on the pressure towards the end of the first half and broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute when Forss arrowed a low shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
Southend goalkeeper Mark Oxley did well to deny Said Benrahma and Nico Yennaris before the break but the Shrimpers wasted a glorious chance to equalise in the 55th minute with Theo Robinson firing wide.
Robinson made amends with a looping effort seven minutes later but Brentford responded with two goals in the space in the space of four minutes.
Julian Jeanvier prodded the Bees back in front before Benrahma fired home after swapping passes with Forss.
Southend replied in the 72nd minute with debutant Shawn McCoulsky bagging a brilliant goal from 20 yards before Shrimpers midfielder Michael Klass hit the bar with a header.
But Brentford made sure of their win in the 85th minute with Kamohelo Mokotjo firing home.
And Shrimpers boss Chris Powell admitted Southend – who have not won in the League Cup since 2010 – had been deservedly beaten.
“There was a lot to like in the second half but we were beaten by the better side,” said Powell.
“It was very tough. Brentford are a good side and even though they made changes they have a settled way of playing, which we saw.”
This post was last modified on 15/08/2018