Pontus Jansson and Frank Onyeka are ‘very close’ to a first-team return.

Jansson last appeared for Brentford against West Ham United in late December, while Onyeka hasn’t featured this side of the World Cup.

But head coach Thomas Frank delivered a positive update on the pair, who have both been recovering from hamstring injuries.

“It’s still too soon, but they are very close,” Frank told the gathering media at his pre-match press conference.

“Onyeka is training almost fully with the group; Pontus is slightly behind him.”

Frank confirmed that midfielder Shandon Baptiste has returned to full training following a groin injury, and that Brentford have no fresh concerns ahead of Southampton’s visit to the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

Kevin Schade made his Premier League debut against Bournemouth and Frank revealed that he has been impressed with the forward since his arrival from Freiburg last month.

“He’s getting better and better,” he said.

“We had a good in-house game last Saturday and he was very promising – he scored a couple of goals and looked sharp. I’m pleased with what I’ve seen.

“The good thing is that we have good players playing already; Ivan [Toney], Bryan [Mbeumo], [Yoane] Wissa and Keane [Lewis-Potter]. But we all know that we need several attacking players.”