Brentford's last two games have yielded two draws, but the manner in which those valuable points have been won has been very different.

After firing in 31 shots and hitting the woodwork on four separate occasions in their high-drama 1-1 draw against Manchester United last Saturday, the Bees were forced to dig in and grind out a result on Wednesday night in a low-key stalemate against Brighton and Hove Albion at Gtech Community Stadium.

Although Thomas Frank's side showed flashes of attacking spark, they were limited to just five shots all evening: only two of them (from striker Ivan Toney and centre-back Zanka) on target.

Brighton, meanwhile, took 24 shots throughout the contest, but were frustrated in their efforts to fashion anything clear-cut, Roberto De Zerbi's smooth operators failing to unlock a stubborn Brentford defence superbly marshalled by goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Frank afterwards described the draw as a “good point” adding that "we go for the win always, but to get a point when you can't win is good", and there was a steel to the Bees' play that will have pleased their manager.

In the thick of the action for both of Brentford's recent draws has been Vitaly Janelt, who again clocked up a raft of impressive stats against the Seagulls.

Poise and precision are two words that spring to mind when you think of the 25-year-old German, and his ability to provide tenacity and control in equal measure was in evidence on Wednesday night.

Janelt made more tackles (4) and more interceptions (3) than any Brentford player against Brighton and also weighed in with two clearances and a blocked shot as he excelled as a defensive shield in front of Kristoffer Ajer, Nathan Collins and Zanka.

The former VfL Bochum midfielder's distribution was also exemplary: Janelt (94 per cent) boasting by far the best pass completion percentage of any Bees player - and his game intelligence was evident in his post-match comments when he spoke of countering Brighton's desire to "overload" the hosts' right flank.

If there was a poster boy for Brentford's resolute defensive display last night, however, it would be centre-back Ajer - who put all of his 1.98 metres to extremely good use in the latter stages to make a vital block at full stretch from Brighton forward Danny Welbeck.

The Norweigan earned his side a point with his equaliser against the Red Devils last weekend and he celebrated his late block against Brighton in similar fashion.

Ajer's fist-pumping spoke volumes regarding the pride Brentford will take in keeping what was only their fourth clean sheet of the season, and goalkeeper Flekken has been another player in fine form of late.

Assured throughout, Flekken made six saves and confidently dealt with everything the Seagulls could throw at him; the Dutchman also completing 11 accurate long passes and a key pass, in addition to winning two aerial duels!

As the outstanding Janelt mentioned after the game, Bryan Mbeumo's return and the imminent availability of long-term casualty Kevin Schade has given Brentford's attack a welcome shot in the arm... and defensively they look to be in good shape ahead of this weekend's Premier League clash at Aston Villa.