Brentford Manager Mark Warburton acknowledges that Saturday’s trip to Wigan Athletic will be a tough test but believes his squad are going there in good form and good shape.
The Bees make the trip up the M6 to face Uwe Rösler’s Wigan looking to cement their place in the top-half of the Sky Bet Championship table.
For their part Wigan, who lost out in the play-off semi-finals last season, have started the season slowly and sit in 21st with 10 points from their opening 11 games.
Mark said he is fully aware that Wigan are a far better side than their league position suggests, a point highlighted by the number of players involved in this week’s internationals.
Speaking to Bees Player Mark said he is expecting a very tough match but, as ever, he wants his side to go out and try to impose their game on proceedings.
“Wigan have a very high quality squad,” said Mark.
“You look where they are in the league and it is a false position.
“They have a very strong squad with some big names and a lot of guys who were away on internationals this week.
“They have the likes of James McClean, Shaun Maloney and William Kvist and we are well aware of the threat they pose.
“They are a high quality team and they are at home so I am sure they are favourites to win this type of game against a smaller club but we go there in good shape and in good form.
“It is about us going there and imposing ourselves on the game and seeing what we can take from it.
“We have to worry about us.
“Of course we have to go into more detailed analysis and the players want that.
“Is it going to be Maloney, Cowie, McClean or McManaman? Is it going to be Kvist or Forshaw? Is Hughes fit? Is it Delort, Riera, Fortune or Waghorn? We don’t know.
“All we can talk about is that these are the strengths of the team, these are the weaknesses as we see it, this is how we analyse the game and this is how we think we can impose ourselves on the game.
“That is all you can do and sometimes you can think too much into it.
“It is about highlighting to the players the strengths that we know they possess: if they do this, this might happen and if they do that, that might happen.
“It is about making them aware and planting the seed.
“They are good professionals and they will look at the clips.
“The analysis team here have done a fantastic job in terms of individual clips for individual players.
“The players will look at their direct opponent, what foot does he prefer, what way does he prefer to go etc and they can look at all that type of detail.
“For us all we can do is paint a picture for them and then see how best we can apply ourselves on Saturday.”
Following the international break Brentford have had a full week to prepare for the trip up to the DW stadium on Saturday.
The playing staff were given four days off over the weekend to recover after a run of six games in three weeks.
Mark said he was very pleased by the way the players have trained since they returned from that break.
However he admits that the proof about how beneficial the break was will only come on the pitch against Wigan on Saturday.
“The proof about the break will come on Saturday I guess, as it did the last time with Brighton,” said Mark.
“They came back refreshed and trained really well this week.
“They have had a great attitude, good quality and they are hungry to play football which is nice to see.
“The proof in the pudding will come on Saturday but I am very pleased so far.
“They came back in on Monday after four days off and we eased them back into it so to speak.
“They want to play and they are hungry to play and you can see that.
“Tuesday was a harder day but the quality of the work was good and clinical.
“They are playing well and they are wanting the football which is good.
“I am really pleased this week.
“It was a light day on Friday and we travelled on Friday so hopefully we are in good shape for Saturday and Tuesday.”
One player who did not have the opportunity for a break over the weekend was Alex Pritchard as the Tottenham loanee was involved with the England Under-21s who qualified for the 2015 Under 21 European Championships.
Although Alex didn’t feature in either match against Croatia he still did not have the break that the rest of the squad enjoyed over the weekend.
Mark believes that in situations like these it is important that the players are honest about how they feel and how tired they are.
For Mark the feedback that players give to him and the medical department is vital in deciding how best to treat and look after a player.
“Alex has to be honest,” said Mark.
“As medical, conditioning and coaching teams you rely on the honesty of the players.
“He has gone away and, although he hasn’t figured which has disappointed him, he has been away with England.
“He has gone away and he has trained and followed the diet of a playing squad member but he hasn’t had any pitch time.
“So how is his body, how much rest has he has, how hard has he worked?
“It is about making sure he reports back to us and gives us good feedback.
“He had a day off on Wednesday and he trained well on Thursday.
“He is in good shape and looking forward to Saturday so hopefully all is well but as always you are relying on good feedback from the player.
“We all have our own ideas about recovery and here we have the first and second day recoveries to look after the players.
“We want to look after their individual needs rather than a more generic approach.
“It is generic in certain aspects but not in every aspect and you need the feedback from the player.
“Some boys have had a four day break but Alex hasn’t.
“We have to ask him how he feels, how are the legs, how hard were you working when you were away.
“If he has followed the diet of somebody who has played 90 minutes, but he hasn’t, then we have to ask him what shape he is in.
“There was good feedback from the player and we like to give them ownership of the situations.
“We have got a really good group of people here so it’s so far so good in that respect.”
Brentford’s training numbers were increased this week as Sam Saunders, Nico Yennaris and Tommy Smith all returned from injury.
Sam returned following a knee injury which had kept him out since January while Nico and Tommy have both been missing since September.
Mark is delighted to have the trio back in training but admits that it may still be a few weeks until Sam sees match action as he is eased back into training.
“It is good to have those boys returning,” said Mark.
“You saw the size of the squad out there training with some good quality boys coming back.
“It is great to see Sam as he has trained really well this week.
“He is still being eased back in and rehabilitated.
“He was out for a lot longer than Tommy Smith and Nico Yennaris so his welfare needs to be managed.
“The medical team have been brilliant in that respect.
“Sam has trained well, Tommy has come back with all the quality that he possesses and Nico had an outstanding pre-season.
“He played well in matches and he was pushing Alan McCormack all the way and Alan knew that.
“It was disappointing for him to have the injury but he is a good athlete and a technically gifted player and he will be pushing Alan again very soon.
“I would hope that Tommy and Nico will figure against Birmingham City on Monday and be able to get an hour each in there.
“They are on that road to recovery.
“Sam will train more with us: at the moment he is doing an hour or so and we want to get more out of Sam and get him comfortable.
“We are happy with what he is doing and we are in a good place.
“Sam has worked so hard and after a dark few months he can see some light now.”
One player absent from that training group was Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
The 28-year-old forward had been training with Brentford in a bid to keep up his fitness as he looks to find a new club.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker played and scored in a Development Squad game last Saturday against Huddersfield Town but Mark revealed that he had now left the club after the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement.
“Sylvan was Championship player of the year three years ago,” said Mark.
“He is only 28 years of age but he has had a tough few months in terms of club and manager.
“When he came in here his attitude was very good.
“He is a really nice guy and he played a game on Saturday and was looking for a decision on a contract.
“From our point of view we can’t rush into anything.
“We were impressed with him.
“He looked good in training but we said that we couldn’t do anything that quickly and that didn’t suit him.
“We wish him well.
“He was a good guy to have around here and we have no complaints about his attitude at all.
“It was just one of those things.”
Saturday’s trip to Wigan begins another hectic run of games up to a third international break in just under a month’s time.
The Bees face a run of six games in 21 days including away trips to Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest.
Mark said he and the squad won’t look beyond the game in front of them and believes that it is at this stage of the season where squad depth starts to come into its own.
“It is a tough one with the next six games to the international break,” said Mark.
“How best do we prepare ourselves for this tough programme.
“We are aware of the threat that Sheffield Wednesday pose but the only thing that matters now is Saturday.
“The moment the final whistle goes on Saturday our focus goes to Tuesday.
“We will look at the injury situation and tiredness and fatigue and then look at picking what we think is the best eleven.
“Likewise after that we have another trip up north next Friday up to Bolton to stay in the same hotel.
“It is about utilising the squad as best we can, picking what we think is the best eleven for the right game and hopefully being in good shape for it.”
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