..BIG FINISH

Bees boss Frank insists his football-crazy players can’t wait to return but is gutted they can’t let the fans say goodbye to Griffin Park in winning style

BRENTFORD boss Thomas Frank insists all his players have a “deep love” of football and cannot wait to return.

The Championship is planning to resume training next Monday, with a provisional plan to start games again from June 13.

And the Danish manager is of the opinion that, given all the necessary assurances from the EFL and medics on safety and training protocols, his players will be keen to get going again.

“That’s my clear feeling – they all want to come back, play football and compete,” he said.

“Of course, that means all of the regulations and rules must be in place. But they all want to play, they want to start to train and play football again.

“They love to play. It’s so deep inside their bodies and, of course, I feel that way too. I hope we can start again very soon.

“Life moves on and we need to try to get back to something that is normal.

We all have a responsibility to stay safe and to follow the regulations so we can play again.

“I have a belief that we can do it. I see the emails about protocols going back and forth between the EFL, the doctors and the directors, and I believe we can do it safely.

“It was good that the Bundesliga started. Everyone can see that it was fine. I believe that can continue and it will be a safe environment going forward if we do the right things.”

Lockdown has been strange for Brentford as they were due to say farewell to Griffin Park (right) this season.

They are in the hunt for the playoffs and the dream was to get promoted and move into their new stadium in the Premier League.

The club is something of a rarity in football, renowned for being well run, and yet even a club which respects budgets and costs is facing testing times.

Frank said: “When everyone started playing football, and coaches started to coach, it was without fans. You train without fans. If you are a young player there are no fans, you just play.

“But when you play at the top level, there are always fans. Football and fans are so connected with each other that it feels very strange to play with no fans and not to have that connection, that bond which helps you fight or go to war with another club.

“We will miss the fans, especially in a season for us when it was farewell to Griffin Park.

“Everything was in place to give it a beautiful and magical farewell. We will do our best to do that anyway so it can stay in the heart of the fans.

“We know in the long term that football is coming back, so we can play in front of the fans, but maybe that will take quite a long time.

“We have the new stadium to look forward to. Hopefully we will get there no matter what.

“If everything went to plan, it would be fantastic to celebrate with the fans, but we will find a way.”