‘I just knew this would happen, 100 per cent’

IVAN TONEY spent the last eight months imagining what his comeback match after a betting ban would be like — and the one dead cert was that he would find the net.

‘100 per cent I knew this would happen,’ said Toney, after scoring only 19 minutes into his return in the 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest.

‘Before the game, before I left my house, I thought, “We’re winning today and I’m scoring”. And I made it happen, which is good.

‘It was a long time coming. I manifested this win when I was at home during the time I was out and I’m buzzing to be back scoring goals.’

Toney equalised for Brentford with a free-kick in the 19th minute after Forest had taken an early lead, though replays showed the striker controversially moving the ball and redrawing the foam line to create a better angle for himself.

‘Yeah, I saw the gap. Sometimes you have a gap either way and I bent the ball around the wall and was so happy to see it go in,’ Toney said.

Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo insisted that it was ‘a clear ball displacement’ but Brentford manager Thomas Frank called it ‘clever’ and joked that he was happy with his ‘January signing’ after his first Brentford appearance since May 2023.

‘Classic Ivan loves the big stage. He thrives there,’ said Frank. ‘I must say that it was extra impressive for him to come back after eight months out and play the way he did — scoring a clever goal, his link-up play, his presence, his work ethic, defending at set-pieces was all super impressive.

‘I’m glad with our January signing,’ Frank added, after Toney’s man-of-the match display.