Frank: Brentford must be ‘brave, cool and aggressive’ vs ‘solid’ Burnley

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Brentford boss Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank has admitted his Brentford side face a tough task when they welcome Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

A run of eight defeats in nine games was ended with an impressive 3-1 win at bottom club Norwich last weekend to relieve some pressure building after a fine start to life in the top-flight.

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While 15th-placed Brentford have claimed seven victories in their maiden Premier League campaign, they have failed to secure consecutive wins but boss Frank hopes that can change at home on Saturday.

“No doubt back-to-back wins would be very nice,” he said.

“It is difficult to get that in the Premier League, very difficult but that is our aim. We need to be brave, cool and aggressive as I have said for a lot of games. It is very important to attack the game.

“We are facing a Burnley team who are very strong, very solid and difficult to break down. They show that the six years in a row.

“I could imagine they prefer to have more points but I am pretty sure they know what they are doing. They attack every game with their strengths so it will be a big battle.”

Burnley occupy the final place in the bottom three and trail Saturday’s hosts by six points to highlight the importance of the fixture.

Both sides would have received a boost on Thursday when relegation rivals Norwich, Watford and Leeds all suffered defeats.

Frank admitted: “I think no matter what end of the table you are in; you probably look at the results from the teams around you so of course, I noticed the results from last night.

“If you ask me if I prefer them to lose, yes of course but I can’t afford it too much. I’m more happy if they lose than if they win, but it’ll need to take one second of my energy, the next is on good training, talk to the players, set them up and perform well.”

Brentford have been able to welcome back first-choice goalkeeper David Raya over the last month after he sustained a serious knee injury in October.

It ruled the Spaniard out of the 3-1 loss at Turf Moor but his recent return has coincided with an upturn in Premier League results with the stalemate against Crystal Palace followed by a much-needed triumph at Norwich last week.

“I am convinced that if we had David in the team in the four months he was out, we would have had more points,” Frank insisted.

“It’s not easy to put a number but I know we have quite a few more points with him in the goal, not only because of saves, but also how he knows all the players in the back four, the back three.

“He plays with such a confidence. He is an experienced player so he is also, on set-pieces, not just focused on himself, he says ‘Pontus (Jansson) go here, Ethan (Pinnock) go there’ and still completely aware of everything around him.

“I think he is back to a normal good level. That means high position, saves, getting out of the box and of course top quality on the ball.”

Kristoffer Ajer and Christian Norgaard will be fit after they were withdrawn at Norwich due to knocks.

Brentford Thomas Frank

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