Thomas Frank will be able to welcome a number of players back to training next week when the Bees return to West London from their mid-season trip to Spain.
The Brentford head coach joined Wednesday night's Bees United annual general meeting live from the outskirts of Girona and started by giving an update on some of those not currently with the group.
Frank said: “Aaron Hickey is doing very well; he's ahead of schedule. He is not with us here in Girona, but he will join the group, part-training, from Monday, at least that's the plan. He is expecting to train very hard with the guys back at Jersey Road.
“The three Danish guys [Christian Nørgaard, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard], Saman Ghoddos and Bryan Mbeumo got this week off to get a bit of rest and, most importantly, refresh the head. David Raya, unfortunately, went out a couple of days ago and he will be back around Thursday next week.”
The training camp forms the first full week of work for the squad following the World Cup break, which Thomas feels had its advatages and disadvantages.
He continued: “Personally, it was fantastic to have two weeks off; I think it was nice for the players because we never get that opportunity. For Brentford, which of course is my main aim, it is what it is, so I get on with it.
“I find the positives we can take out of that situation. So, I'm thinking refresh some players and, hopefully, some players get an experience for life by going to the World Cup.
“Now we have the freshness and getting players back from injury. We can work more in depth without that pressure of a competitive game every six or seven days. I think there's some validity to it; every single time we have a longer spell to train, I always find bits and pieces we can try to improve together with my coaching staff.
“In that aspect, it's good but the only thing we said was that, with that big win against [Manchester] City, it would have been lovely to meet in on Monday and use that energy for the next week. We, of course, will do our best to take the positive of that game, show it to the whole squad when everyone is together next week and, hopefully, build on that.”
One person who didn’t make the trip out to Catalunya with the squad was Brian Riemer, Frank’s former assistant being named head coach at Anderlecht last Friday.
Paying tribute to Riemer, Frank said: “It’s a credit to all of us, you fans, staff members, and players, that Brian gets this opportunity at a huge club in Europe. Of course, Brian is a very good coach and deserves massive credit for getting the opportunity, but everyone has been part of giving Brian the best opportunity to go there.
“I think it’s a fantastic story that we are not only developing players that can go into different clubs, but also good staff members that get opportunities to go to other clubs. On a personal note, of course, it's also a bit sad. It's a very good friend of mine who I've been working with closely, night and day, for almost four years.
“We’ve had some massive successes and some big downs. When you experience those experiences together, you grow your relationship. So, it's sad to see him leaving in a way but I just want the best for him and wish him all the best.”
When asked about Nørgaard’s appointment, Frank said: “Like when an important player leaves us another player comes in or a player in house steps up and a new dynamic is created. It is the same here.
“Claus is a very good coach that will come into the group and push things around a little bit because he's a different personality than Brian. Claus has experience from a long life in coaching and will definitely help us.
“He will have the same focus areas, so he will be in charge of the defensive side of the game. He will be doing everything he can to push our performance environment and our ability to keep progressing this beautiful club.”