Alan McCormack said the Brentford players were “very pleased with the work out” in the pre-season friendly against Celtic.
The Bees had the better of a competitive friendly against the Scottish Premier League Champions but were beaten 2-1 at Griffin Park.
Adam Forshaw put them ahead inside the first ten minutes but Celtic hit back to equalise against the run of play and scored the winner in a second half that saw The Bees create far more than their illustrious visitors.
Alan took heart from the performance against The Bhoys but admitted he was disappointed to lose.
“The first 15 minutes set the tempo for the whole game,” said the midfield man, speaking to Bees Player after the match.
“It was box-to-box and very high tempo from both teams.
“Everybody is very pleased with the work out.
“I thought we took the game to them, played some excellent football and created some good chances.
“We are a little bit disappointed to finish 2-1 down but the performance was very good.
“If we play like that, especially the first 20 minutes where we got at them and won the ball in high areas at the right times and got a goal from it, we will do well.”
Alan said Brentford’s work in training was starting to come to fruition and the players could see it happening.
He played in a midfield three with George Saville and Adam Forshaw against Celtic, having played with George Saville and Jake Reeves in the same system in the win over Millwall on Tuesday.
He explained how it worked.
“The gaffer likes the midfield shape,” said Alan.
“Adam and George are good going forward with the ball and getting us playing.
“The gaffer wants me to dictate where and when they go and look at how we press.
“It is working well at the moment and if we play like that in the league it will work against teams.
“We have worked on set pieces, team shape and how we want to play.
“You can see it is coming to fruition.
“We are getting positives from it.
“The more we work at it the better it will get and the teams we come up against in League One won’t be of this standard.”
Alan joined Brentford this summer after leaving Swindon Town.
He said he was enjoying his team at Griffin Park so far and wanted a few more minutes before the season started but was excited by the quality in the Brentford squad.
“The first month has flown by,” he said.
“I am really enjoying it.
“We have a couple of weeks to go and I can’t wait to start.
“It has been a very good pre-season, training has been excellent.
“I would like a few more minutes on the pitch before the start of the season.
“I like to be match fit to play at a high tempo before the season starts.
“We have a few hard days coming up and we will build from that.
“I am pleased with the squad we have.
“The standard is exceptional.
“This squad will take this league and do it by playing good football.
“We have quality going forward and in defence and that will go a long way in this league.”
A full video interview with Alan McCormack can be seen here by Bees Player subscribers.