Brentford manager, Thomas Frank has described their West London derby win over Fulham as a result which “means the world to us”.
Second-half goals from Ivan Toney and Mathias Jensen secured a 3-2 home victory for Frank’s Bees against Fulham despite Carlos Vinicius’ injury-time goal, after Fulham’s Manor Solomon had cancelled out Ethan Pinnock’s sixth-minute opening goal.
Frank described Solomon’s equalising goal as an “unlucky” goal to concede in a dominant first half, but praised his players for their response as he commented: “Then we came out flying for the second half. We came out with the same intensity, and it was a clear and fair win.”
Frank went on to describe this victory as everything that everyone at the club dreams of as he added: “To win a local derby means the world to us – to the players and the fans.
“We do it together. We need to bounce off each other’s energy, especially in moments when it’s not going well.”
This match was hyped up as a crucial showdown between the two West London clubs as both teams chase a potential European qualification spot, yet Frank wasn’t particularly happy with the pre-match hype narrative.
Explaining why he isn’t a fan of the ‘six-pointer’ style phrasing, Frank said: “I don’t like these six-pointers because they don’t matter if we don’t win the next game and Fulham win theirs. But of course it was important, because we want to finish as high as possible.”
The result left Brentford sat ninth but one point off Marco Silva’s Cottagers and four points off fifth-placed Liverpool.
Frank however singled out Mikkel Damsgaard for praise after the Dane started his first league game since a goalless draw at Bournemouth early October, as he described the 22 year-old’s performance as “very pleasing” in what has been a difficult maiden season in Englsh Football for the youngster.
The Danish boss explained post-match that Damsgaard had “trained well for the last three or four weeks”, in which he has shown improved “sharp” quality and “intensity” in his play.
Frank also stated that tactics also played a role in Damsgaard’s start as he said: “It was the moment to play his type as the no.8 and he did well. He looked sharp on the ball and did well in the pressure. He got us out of tricky situations. It was pleasing to see.
“We’re very privileged to have a player of Mikkel’s talent. He was out for almost a year and it takes time, but of course he’s a bit impatient, I’m a bit impatient, everyone is a bit impatient.”
Substitute, Kevin Schade who provided the assist for Jensen’s goal also was publicly praised by Frank, who was left “so pleased” to see the German finally show his “good potential” within a game, having often “shown glimpses of that in training,” but not in his four previous league appearances.
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