Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DRAWS A BEE MINUS
But boss Frank stays confident of promotion
THOMAS FRANK believes the race for second place will go down to the wire.
Brentford’s fifth draw in six games moved them to within eight points of second-placed Watford – with a game in hand.
But Frank is convinced there are plenty of twists and turns to come with tomorrow’s visit of Cardiff his immediate focus.
The Bees boss (right) believes the Hornets have the hardest runin – their final four games start tomorrow with a trip to Norwich, who can clinch the title, before facing Millwall, Brentford and third-placed Swansea.
Frank hinted that the derby clash with Xisco Munoz’s side in 12 days’ time will decide whether Brentford are playing for a place in the Premier League on the final day of the season. He said: “On
paper, it looks more difficult for Watford, but they are still huge favourites. It is still theirs to lose.
“I think it will go down to the last games, to the last round, at least to the second last game. There is no doubt that will be a very important game.
“Momentum will shift from now until the end of the season.
“We need to stay extremely focused and we need to do what we can to get a win against Cardiff and then see what else is happening on Tuesday night.”
Behind the calm, Frank revealed “there is a hurricane inside” as his toiling side managed just one shot on target against Millwall.
That came in the 83rd minute when Ivan Toney latched on to a Marcus Forss flick, only for Bartosz Bialkowski to bravely save at the striker’s feet.
Frank insisted it is time for other players to step up as 29-goal Toney “has more than done his
bit”. Forss should have been that man when he surged into the box but sliced his shot wide.
Scott Malone twice went close in the first half for Millwall who could have snatched victory at the death but Danny Mcnamara crossed just behind unmarked sub Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.
Lions boss Gary Rowett revealed he is using the final games as a factfinding mission to launch a promotion challenge next season. He said: “If we are not in the top six, where we finish is neither here nor there for me.
“We need to find out one or two things ourselves that we can use next year.”
BRENTFORD: Raya 6, Jansson 7, Norgaard 7, Pinnock 7, Roerslev (Canos 71, 6) 5, Jensen (Ghoddos 71, 6) 5, Janelt 5, Fosu 6 (Marcondes 74, 6), Mbeumo 6, Toney 7, Forss 6 MILLWALL: Bialkowski 7, Mcnamara 6, Cooper 7, Pearce 7, M Wallace 6, Malone 7, Woods 7, Evans 6 (Mitchell 79, 6), Kieftenbeld 7, J Wallace 7 (Burey 90), Bennett 7 (Bodvarsson
79, 6)