FRANK WON’T TALK UP RON

TOM HOPKINSON

THOMAS FRANK reckons it is important not to overrate Cristiano Ronaldo or any of the Premier League’s other big stars when he prepares his men to meet the opposition.

The Brentford boss (right) takes his side to Old Trafford tomorrow to face the Portugal ace on the biggest stage yet for his Bees this season.

And he said: “We will speak about Ronaldo and his positions in the box and his movement, but always from a technical and tactical point of view rather than about his aura or presence.

“We just speak about them like any other normal player — like, with Marcus Rashford, we know his pace; Jadon Sancho, his one-v-one ability. But, of course, I understand the issue if you talk someone up too much or don’t talk about them at all… you need to be transparent and have a down-to-earth approach.”

Tomorrow’s 70,000-plus crowd will be the biggest Brentford have played in front of but Frank and his men can enjoy it knowing they are all but mathematically confirmed as being a Premier League side again next season.

And not only does that mean more games against the biggest stars, but next season it will see them meet west London rivals Fulham in a top-flight fixture for the first time.

Frank added: “No matter which club came up, the competition would be crazy, but obviously with the story and the derbies, Fulham

and

Brentford is big for us. All due respect to Chelsea, they are a huge, huge club, but I don’t think they ever saw Brentford as a rivalry.

“Fulham and Brentford is much more of a derby and I will look forward to those games next season a lot.”

Frank has no fear of any second-season syndrome, not least because of the commitment he has seen from his players this past week after reaching the 40-point mark.

He said: “You could easily say, ‘40 points, done, dusted, four days off, go on the p*ss, do whatever you want’.

“But, no, they are very hungry, they want to do more, they want to achieve more.”