WE WON’T GET WEMBLEY TREMBLY

Frank says last season’s heartache will give Bees the buzz to complete play-off mission

BRENTFORD Forss 60 WATFORD

46, Toney 2 0

BRENTFORD boss Thomas Frank has vowed his team will be even stronger than last year if they manage to reach the Championship play-off final for the second season in a row.

The Bees have clinched third spot in the table, just as they did in 2019-20 when they went on to lose to Fulham in extra-time at Wembley to narrowly miss out on promotion.

That result meant Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma were sold, to Aston Villa and West Ham respectively, but the new-look Bees are just as dangerous with Ivan Toney up front.

The striker landed his 30th goal of an incredible season when he scored from the spot (above) against already-promoted Watford, adding to a strike from Marcus Forss. Now Frank reckons that, with Toney up front in a team with experience of play-off nerves and heartache, they are ready to complete the dream.

He said: “I thought we did remarkably well last time because it was such an unbelievably quick turnaround from the end of the season to the play-offs. The final was 0-0 and we lost in extra time, so it was small margins.

“But we’ve had that experience and it can give us an extra edge in the crucial moments when it’s really needed. Hopefully that can help us to get over the line.”

Brentford will face either Barnsley or Bournemouth in the play-off semi-finals after an away trip to Bristol City on the final day of the regular campaign on Saturday.

With Toney only one goal away from becoming the highest scorer in a season in Championship history – he shares shares that accolade with Glenn Murray, who also scored 30 for Crystal Palace in 2012-13 – there is little chance of Frank fielding a weakened team at Ashton Gate. “I want Ivan to break the record,” he said. “And I like to keep momentum. So I won’t be resting many players, if any.”

Watford are heading into the Premier League, even though they missed out on the title, with striker Isaac Success blaming the defeat on tiredness. But he vowed to end the season strongly against Swansea.

“I think the boys were a little bit heavy and fatigued because it’s been a long season,” he said. “We wanted to come here and get the three points, But we’re looking to finish in style next week.”

BRENTFORD: Raya 7, Jansson 7, Norgaard 8, Sorenson 7, Roerslev 6 (Stevens 89), Bidstrup 8

(Goode 80), Fosu 7, Jensen 7 (Marcondes 80), Canos 7, Forss 7 (Ghoddos 74), Toney 8 (Mbeumo 74).

WATFORD: Bachmann 6, Cathcart 6, Kabasele 6, Sierralta 6, Masina 6, Cleverley 6 (Success 30 7), Hughes 6 (Wilmott 85), Gosling 7 (Pochettino 85), Hungbo 6 (Zinckernagel 24, 6), Gray 5 (Perica 85), Sema 6.

MOTM IVAN TONEY (BRENTFORD)