Brentford's bad luck continued during Sunday's chaotic defeat at home to Aston Villa but there were some positives to take away from the game.

The Bees went into the match against one of the Premier League's in-form sides still dealing with a depleted squad. Thomas Frank was without 10 players for the game, with only Tottenham Hotspur (11) and Newcastle United (12) having more men missing.

Two players who had been on that lengthy injury list earlier this season were among the best performers on the day.

Keane Lewis-Potter's time at Brentford has been interrupted by injuries since joining from Hull City in 2022. The 22-year-old opened the scoring with his first-ever Premier League goal in his 21st top-flight appearance, of which just seven have been from the start.

Frank had previously said that the Bees' injury crisis – especially that of fellow forward Kevin Schade – was a “very big opportunity” for the player.

This first goal could well be the catalyst for Lewis-Potter over the upcoming busy post-Christmas period. In his last season for the Tigers, Lewis-Potter managed 12 strikes in the Championship for a team that had struggled for much of the season.

There's still much more to come from Lewis-Potter as he finds the rhythm he needs but he is still one of Brentford's biggest threats. The former England Under-21 international ranks fifth from the Bees' squad for shots per game in the Premier League so far this season averaging 1.3 per game – behind Christian Nørgaard (1.5), Neal Maupay (1.8), Yoane Wissa (2.4) and Bryan Mbeumo (2.7).

Another player who shined for the Bees was Mikkel Damsgaard. Both Damsgaard and Lewis-Potter were taken off in the 68th minute (just a few minutes before Ben Mee's red card changed the entire complexion of the game) and received warm words from their head coach.

Damsgaard is one of many who have been afflicted by injuries so far this season with the Dane requiring knee surgery in September having already missed the start of the season.

The 23-year-old got stuck in for his team in a difficult game by winning five tackles in total with only Nørgaard (6) and Saman Ghoddos (8) managing more tackles in the entire game.

Damsgaard also forced Emiliano Martínez into a solid save and may have done better with his effort had he not been out for so long.

What made Damsgaard's 68 minutes more impressive is that it was just his first Premier League start of the season (and just his 10th start in the competition overall).

Again, there is hope that Sunday's game could spark the former Sampdoria player's best form after what has been a frustrating start to life at Brentford as Frank continues to utilise his squad to deal with a hefty injury list.