STUMBLEBEES

Week to forget for Frank as Brentford throw it away again

BRENTFORD 1

Toney 12 pen

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1

Krovinovic 63

THOMAS FRANK admits the past week could come back to haunt Brentford.

The Bees are desperate to finish in the automatic promotion places this season after suffering double agony last term. Frank’s men just missed out on the top two, and then lost to fierce rivals Fulham in the play-off final.

More dropped points against Chris Hughton’s Nottingham Forest saw the west London club fall seven points behind Watford, with leaders Norwich well clear.

That made it four thrown away in five days after Derby hit back from two goals down last week. For the Danish coach, taking Brentford into the top flight for the first time since 1947 would be a fairytale to match anything his countryman Hans Christian Andersen conjured up.

But, after the international break, his team must regroup to stop the campaign from turning into another horror story. Frank (below, right) said: “Any points we drop may come back to hurt us further down the line when it gets to the end of the season.

“If we have made it, we will forget it. But if we haven’t, then maybe it will be because of one of these days. And especially one like this.

“I can only hope that all of our internationals come back in one piece.

“Here we will regroup with training for some, rest for others, and get ready for the run-in. There will be many more twists and turns. We can’t get ahead of ourselves or there will be too much noise in our heads. If we play like we did here in the next nine matches, we win all of them.

“It was both a good and a bad experience last season. If we hadn’t had such a good winning run, we wouldn’t have been close enough for the disappointment.”

Defender Mads Bech Sorensen described the afternoon as “frustrating and unlucky” before heading off to play for Denmark at the European Under-21 Championship.

Premier League referee

Graham Scott came in for criticism from both managers over key decisions.

Hughton described a penalty won and scored by 28goal Ivan Toney (below, left) as “soft,” and the official also missed David Raya handling outside his area, a decision Hughton said was “almost impossible to get wrong”.

Frank saw a

“clear foul” before a

63rdminute equaliser from Forest’s Croatian midfielder Filip Krovinovic. But Hughton was delighted with both a point and another accomplished display from James Garner.

The midfielder, on loan from Manchester United, looks a fine prospect. Hughton said of the 20-year-old, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Watford: “It is difficult for me to talk about his future next season as he is not our player and we are very grateful to Manchester United for his services. But I can say we are absolutely delighted with him. He has shown great maturity on the pitch.” BRENTFORD: Raya 6, Dalsgaard 6, Jansson 7, Reid 6, Bech Sorensen 7, Janelt 6 (Ghoddos 70, 6), Jensen 7 (Marcondes 85), Norgaard 7, Canos 6 (Forss 85), Toney 7, Mbeumo 6 (Fosu 77). NOTTM FOREST: Samba 6, Christie 6, Figueiredo 6, McKenna 6, Bong 6 (Yuri Ribeiro 66, 6), Garner 7, Cafu 6; Ameobi 5, Krovinovic 7, Mighten 5, Grabban 6 (Murray 81).

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