FIVE ALIVE BUT IT MAY BEE TOO LATE
THOMAS Frank admits Brentford face an almighty task to overhaul Watford for automatic promotion – despite a thumping victory over Preston.
The Bees ended a run of four successive draws in the Championship with a devastating attacking display to close the gap on second place to nine points.
And despite having a game in hand on the Hornets, Frank stressed their rivals would need to collapse for Brentford to rise into the Premier League for the first time.
“Whether we can catch Watford is just up to us to keep performing like we have done today,” said the Dane.
“We’re creating chances, and of course we’re very dangerous going forward.
“It’s all about us to keep performing and we’ll see where that takes us, but it is for Watford to lose now.
“There’s no mind games between us or anything like that, but they’re in sync right now and it’s going to be difficult to catch them. We’ll just do what we can in these last six games.”
The visitors hit the front in the ninth minute when an incisive move down the right culminated with Mads Roerslev whipping a cross in for Bryan Mbeumo, who clinically side-footed his fifth goal of the season past Daniel Iversen from eight yards.
The Bees struck for a second time through Finnish frontman Marcus Forss, who finished off another Roerslev cross, comfortably crashing his ninth of the season past a flat-footed Iversen.
On the hour mark the buoyant Bees almost notched what would have been quite a special goal.
German ace Vitaly Janelt somehow managed to drag a shot wide after playing the most perfectly-weighted onetwo with Tariqe Fosu.
By the game’s three-quarter point it was all Brentford and there appeared no way back for Frankie McAvoy’s hosts, with Ivan Toney the next to sting Iversen’s palms with a thumping angled strike.
The victory was sealed by that man Toney with 15 minutes left as Fosu hung up a cross to the far post where the prolific striker nonchalantly nodded goal number 29 of the campaign past Iversen from a couple of yards out.
Toney then turned provider for sub Sergi Canos to make it four from close range in the 82nd minute.
Fellow sub Emiliano Marcondes’ calm finish from a tight angle in added time wrapped up a dream day for the Bees.
Preston failed to land a blow on the promotion chasers and have now won just one of their last eight league contests, with interim manager McAvoy taking responsibility for a tactical switch that backfired.
“I didn’t think there was too much difference between the two sides in the first half, but they showed their quality with a couple of clinical finishes,” McAvoy said.
“Overall we haven’t defended well enough today, though, and that was disappointing.
“I decided to make a few changes and went with three up top, but clearly that didn’t work and that’s down to me.
“And their third goal was a killer for us.”