Brentford

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Brentford manager Thomas Frank says Nathan Collins' concentration levels are a key factor to his improvement as a defender.

The 23 year-old has started all 10 of the Bees' Premier League matches this season and is becoming a key man in Frank's defence.

"[Last season], he got that injury and got that setback. He struggled to get back up to pace and made some mistakes, which didn't help his confidence. At the end of last season, he was more or less back to the good start he had," said Frank.

"Now he has more consistency and his composure on the ball is good. He can find passes in the pockets, the diagonals and the balls in behind. He is very good.

"This year, he has made some crucial blocks, defending the goal and the box very well. He has just got more consistency in the way he plays.

"Another important thing is the concentration. I think his concentration levels have gone up and the best players in the world have got the ability to concentrate for 90 minutes."

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport journalist

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Bournemouth (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Frank provided a fitness update: "No-one new will be available. We were optimistic with [Kristoffer Ajer] but he didn't cope with the training as well as we thought. He is probably out for a few more weeks with a foot injury."

• Elsewhere, Frank confirmed the club are being "extra cautious" with Rico Henry's recovery. Igor Thiago and Gustavo Nunes are "training very well".

• He is looking forward to Thiago's return: "[He will add] extra firepower up front. He is a different type to [Yoane] Wissa and Kevin Schade as a more physical presence. He's even better in the air and in the box."

• Frank was asked about his side dropping the most points from winning positions in the division: "It's not a real concern. We had a bit of extra awareness that we needed to defend better than in the first nine games and I think we did that against Fulham. It was a step in the right direction."

• On Saturday's opponents: "They have been fantastic. They have been one of the most positive teams this season and Andoni [Iraola] has done a top job with his staff. They have a lot of threat going forward and they are very dynamic. We need to deal with their long balls and track their runners."

• On Brentford's struggles away from home: "The main bit is the fixture programme. We've had some tough away fixtures where we could have got more out of them from the performances we had."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Brentford are unbeaten in their past seven league games against Bournemouth (won five, drawn two) since a 1-0 away loss in the Championship in August 2014.

Brentford's past two Premier League home games have seen them beat Wolves 5-3 and Ipswich 4-3 - no team in English Football League history has won three consecutive home games while conceding three or more goals each time.

Brentford are among the admirers of Greece and Celta Vigo striker Anastasios Douvikas, 25. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Henry Brownsey
BBC Sport journalist

There were bits of wizardry.

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From magical players.

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There were rockets.

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And bangers.

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Landmarks.

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And clangers.

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While some Guy's like Ruud are always remembered.

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Ian Westbrook
Fan writer

Same old, same old...

Two weeks ago, after the defeat at Manchester United, I wrote that Brentford must stop losing points from winning positions.

But it seems we still have not learned our lesson and Monday's gutting derby defeat at Fulham is a very hard one to take. That result makes it 14 points lost, after taking the lead, already this campaign - the highest in the Premier League.

Don't forget that we lost 30 points from winning positions last season - also the most in the division.

If I have to be objective, nobody can deny that our west London rivals deserved something from the game. They dominated possession and chances, although very few of the saves Mark Flekken made were particularly hard.

We never really got into our stride up front but we defended well, putting in plenty of blocks, with Nathan Collins particularly outstanding.

A point for discussion could be the change of formation made by Thomas Frank when he bolstered our defence by replacing Bryan Mbeumo with Ben Mee late on.

It was an unusual move for Frank, who rarely makes defensive substitutions.

He did it against Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season and you can understand why he repeated it on Monday, given the pressure we were under.

Whether it disrupted things is hard to say - I think it was just that holding out against the constant second-half pressure for 55 minutes, including stoppage time, was always going to be a tall order.

We have now lost all five of our away games - the first four being against big six teams - so we must pick up points on the road soon and stop losing leads.

Find more from Ian Westbrook at Beesotted podcast, external

The statistics show that there can be little argument Fulham were the dominant side against Brentford and got what they deserved.

But as Marco Silva said in his post-match interview, you don't always get what you deserve in football.

The home side had a total of 26 shots, compared to Brentford's five, but needed two goals in stoppage time to finally make their dominance count.

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Former Premier League defender Stephen Kelly says Brentford's "in-game management" needs to improve.

The Bees have failed to keep a clean sheet for 12 consecutive matches and have lost 14 points from winning positions this season.

"It’s funny because there’s a lot of talk about Brentford and their early goals, their set plays, and how they’ve been so well organised," said Kelly on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"There are loads of positives, but then there is the in-game management and in-game play because they seem to be conceding quite a lot.

"At times, they are caught out of position and teams put crosses in against them, get behind their full-backs, and get into those areas where they can be dangerous. So it’s something they’re going to have to work on.

"But Thomas Frank has done amazingly since he’s been there. Every other week he’s getting linked with a job somewhere else. So I think Brentford will come good in the end but they’ve given up a lot of leads this season and it’s something that has to change if they want to get that consistency back."

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We asked for your thoughts after Monday's Premier League game between Fulham and Brentford.

Here are some of your comments:

Fulham fans:

Ben: Phenomenal performance in almost very department and our ability to win the ball back constantly was great. Nelson and Smith Rowe had great link-up play, but the cutting edge was so prominent. They nearly held on for it but Wilson got the win and, against Brentford, it doesn’t matter how because they’ve had the bragging rights for too long!

Bob: Frustrating! But what a player we have in Wilson. He needs to start ahead of Pereira or we'll lose him in the January window. Robinson is superb - he has amazing pace for a big guy and is another one we need to keep. We have the ability in the players we have, they just need to finish better. Too many wasted chances. We're looking up though and so we should.

Joseph: It is obvious that we were really dominant up top, but given that we had 26 shots, and only scored two, means that we really need to work on our shooting. We also need a better set-piece coach desperately - we still haven't scored from a corner this season. Brentford defended brilliantly, and good luck to them.

Andy: Fantastic result. Thought we weren't going to be able to break them down even though we set up camp in their half the whole second half. Sat watching it in an Icelandic pub and won over locals to supporting Fulham. Now we celebrate!

Brentford fans:

Tim: Weird substitution choices and a complete lack of possession or attacking intent in the second half did it for us. It wasn't so much Fulham's press, it was more our lack of ability to complete more than two passes. Another failure to keep a clean sheet is the biggest worry.

Will: What a gutting result. To hold on to 1-0 until stoppage time and let two in... it's just horrible. Feel like we sat back and you just can't absorb the pressure of that many shots, even if only half-chances, and expect to keep points. Our subs were ineffective, and theirs stole the show. Fair play to Fulham, though - they never gave up.

Paul: So tired of the Bees being so negative. Got what they deserved, I'm afraid. The whole team was very poor. You can't park the bus for 90 minutes - show some adventure. Just hope home form continues otherwise it's the Championship.

Gary: We were poor from the start and very fortunate to go in front from a great Janelt goal. It was downhill after that apart from backs-to-the-wall defending. Very poor all round - no control of the ball, no progression, no attack. It was all coming from Fulham. Worst I have seen Brentford play for a long long time. Must do much better and very soon!

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Brentford boss Thomas Frank, speaking to BBC Sport: "The better team on the day won it in the end. We lost it from a situation where we did everything right - credit to Harry Wilson, but he only scores from that position one in 100."

When asked whether it would be fair to say Brentford didn't match their usual level: "That would be more than fair. Every game has its own story - we mainly look at ourselves, but there's another team on the pitch who did well.

"Let's look at the end of the season and see how many wins we've got on the road. On paper, Fulham probably aren't the biggest team we've played, but they probably did the best against us in terms of dominating the game."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Fulham’s performance, external

What did you make of Brentford’s display?, external

Come back to this page on Tuesday to find a selection of your replies

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week 10, he takes on The Piano TV series winner Brad Kella.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

My first thought here was a Fulham win, until I saw Brentford won this fixture 3-0 last season. On closer inspection, they have a really good record at Craven Cottage.

They have played 12 games there since 1990, winning six and drawing five of them, so it seems to be one of their luckier grounds.

I'm going to stick with my instincts, though. Fulham were unlucky not to beat Everton last week and they have impressed me when I have seen them play this season.

I have a feeling they will get the job done this time, although it is going to be close.

Brad's prediction: 0-1

They are right next to each other in the table, so this is going to be close... but I'm going to give it to Brentford.

Read the full predictions and have your say

Newcastle United have placed Cameroon winger Bryan Mbeumo on their wanted list, with Brentford setting a price tag of about £50m for the 25-year-old. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column

Brentford will demand £60m for 25-year-old Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo in the January transfer window, amid interest from Arsenal. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Friday's full gossip column

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has been speaking to the media before Monday's Premier League game against Fulham (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Defender Kristoffer Ajer "is progressing well" and midfielder Christian Norgaard "is fit and firing for Monday" after he was rested for the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.

• On being linked to the Manchester United and Chelsea jobs in the summer, Frank said: "I have said many times I am happy here in Brentford. I love it. I feel a responsibility to the fans, the players, the staff. I am extremely dedicated to do everything I can for this lovely club. I don't speak about what-ifs or maybes, what will happen in the future with me, I don't know. Maybe I am staying here for a long, long time. Who knows?"

• He described Brentford as "one of the best clubs in the world" and said there are "very few clubs who are better with everything".

• On facing Fulham: "It's a local derby and, in recent years, it has been very tight between the two teams - we have had some fantastic games against each other. Now, we're going to play Monday night, under the floodlights, Craven Cottage - a historic stadium - we're bringing 3,000 fans, and we'll do everything we can for them to get the win. I'm really looking forward to it."

• He continued: "We're facing a very good opponent. Fulham have done very well over the last few years, I think Marco Silva and his coaching staff have done a top job in the way they have built them. They have started this season flying and they have probably deserved more points than they've got so far."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Yoane Wissa has been involved in 10 goals in his last eight Premier League appearances for Brentford (seven goals, three assists). Across these appearances, Wissa has scored or assisted every 52 minutes.

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Brentford fans will be able to get 20% off train tickets when travelling to Bees matches being played outside London as part of a climate change collaboration with Trainline.

The Bees aim to encourage supporters to take part in the "I came by train" campaign because it is a more sustainable method of transport and becomes more affordable with the discount.

Brentford sustainability manager James Beale said: "We're pleased to be the first Premier League football club to be working with 'I came by train' and Trainline on this positive initiative.

"Making our club more sustainable goes beyond what we do at our stadium, it's also about the travel choices we all make. How fans travel can have a big impact on our carbon footprint.

"We're hopeful that this initiative makes it easier and cheaper for fans to make a better choice on travel for the environment."

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The draw has been made for the Carabao Cup quarter finals, with eight Premier League clubs having made it through.

For the first time in 14 years it is an all Premier League quarter-final line-up, with ties including Tottenham hosting Manchester United and holders Liverpool travelling to Southampton.

Matches are scheduled to take place the week commencing 17 December.

All the fixtures are shown below:

Tottenham v Manchester United

Arsenal v Crystal Palace

Newcastle United v Brentford

Southampton v Liverpool

Find reaction to the draw here