MARK CALLS

AT THE SEASON’S start survival was Brentford’s aim. Now Mark Warburton must contend with the disappointment that would greet his side slipping out of the top six.

The Bees did not have to be at their best to dispatch fellow top-ten dwellers Blackburn, as clinical finishing early in each half proved sufficient.

And Warburton admitted afterwards that the Bees are keeping their feet on the ground despite their strong start.

“At the start of the season all the talk for everyone was about surviving. Now they’re suddenly saying that anything less than a play-off place is a bad season.This is a tough league and we’ve got to respect that,” he said.

“If we enter the local county cup with the under-nines or we’re in the Premier League, our aim is to go and win it. It has to be, otherwise don’t play football.

“We’ll go as hard as we can for as long as we can and see where it takes us. Right now we’re in good shape and there’s a lot more to come from this group of players.

“I don’t think it’s as gruelling a Christmas period as we’ve had in the past, so hopefully we’re prepared.

“Every player should attract attention in January, but every player who leaves here does so on our terms. Everyone’s got a price and we’ll replace them with good players, but right now this is a good place to be.”

Brentford, as modern convention dictates, aligned 4-2-3-1 on paper, but at times both full-backs, Jonathan Douglas and the attackingmidfield three all rampaged behind Andre Gray.

The opening goal came from this area, as Moses Odubajo crossed through the box to fellow full-back Jake Bidwell. Bidwell drilled a shot goalwards and Douglas diverted it in.

The attacking-midfield trio – Jota, Alan Judge and Alex Pritchard – rotated positions constantly, frequently overloading the same full-back and Blackburn could never cope.

But after Pritchard came close to adding a second on 33 minutes Rovers began to play.

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