Dean Smith praised goalkeeper Daniel Bentley for his performance as his second-half saves ensured that Brentford made it back to back home wins after a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at Griffin Park this evening. The Bees took a first-half lead thanks to Scott Hogan’s tap in but Bentley made crucial saves late on from Hildeberto and Britt Assombalonga to ensure that the points stayed in West London. Speaking after the match, Dean conceded that the performance could have been better but said it was important to get the win.
“Any win that you get is important,” Dean told Bees Player. “I thought that we started both halves well for 15 minutes but Nottingham Forest have some very good players and they put us under some pressure at times albeit some of that was our own doing. We were a little bit loose with the ball and they got some momentum. We got sloppy and seemed to panic for five or ten minutes but we got our shape back and moved the ball better. The final couple of minutes we gave the ball away cheaply again and that enabled them to get another attack but, luckily for us, Dan Bentley got in the way of a couple. His saves were as good as putting the ball in the net at the other end.”
After suffering defeat on the opening day of the season away at Huddersfield Town, The Bees have bounced back with victory over Ipswich Town and now Nottingham Forest. With a number of players still getting used to the league and other returning to fitness, Dean believes that there is still a lot more to come from his team ahead of this weekend’s trip to Rotherham United.
“It was a really tight game with both teams trying to play,” said Dean. “It was very competitive and there were probably more bookings than there should have been in the game. We are a work in progress and we have players coming back from injury. We have players who are getting used to this league so to get the scalps of Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest in three days is very pleasing. Two wins on the spin and two clean sheets will certainly have us in good spirits and confidence will be a lot higher than after the first game.”