David Button is keen to put another good run of form together after the international break and have the teams above The Bees looking over their shoulders.
The 26-year-old played every minute as Brentford picked up 13 points from six games in the last month and made up ground on the top six in the Sky Bet Championship.
Now heading into another intense run of fixtures the Brentford goalkeeper is eyeing up a similar run of form to put pressure on the sides above them.
“Everyone is quite positive,” said David, speaking to Bees Player earlier this week. “The last six games have been a big turnaround for all the lads and everyone is looking forward to the next run of games now. It was nice of Lee Carsley to give us a few days off last time and we came back and won four on the bounce. It worked and the lads tried to get a few more days off this time but he wasn’t having it. Hopefully we can carry on as we left off.
“It is a tough league and anyone can beat anyone but we go into each game positively, looking to win as many as we can. If we can put another little run together then that would be fantastic. The aim at the start of the season was to match or better what we did last season. It is still early days and there are a lot of games coming up so things can change in a week. We have to make sure that we are the team everyone is looking at and fearing because we are winning every week and catching the teams above us.”
The Brentford squad is likely to be boosted in the coming weeks by the return of a number of key first-team players such as Josh McEachran, Jota and Maxime Colin.
With the intense Christmas schedule coming up David thinks it will be a huge boost to the squad to have players back in contention and it can only add to the competition and intensity within the squad.
“The long run of games around Christmas suits us because we are playing well and looking forward to each game,” said David. “If you are not on a great run then maybe there is a little bit of dread going into each game but the lads are buzzing right now and we have injuries to come back. The squad is going to have a big part to play. That is one of our strengths this season, we have got a lot of good players who aren’t playing at the moment and are chomping at the bit.
“Competition is key because it increases the intensity in training if you know that your mate is trying to get your shirt off you. We have got a good group so we will go about it the right way and push each other every day. The players coming back are exciting and hopefully they can add to what we have done.”
It was a fine month for David on a personal note as he kept a hat-trick of consecutive clean sheets during the month, helping The Bees record four straight wins.
David said the credit for that run of clean sheets doesn’t just go to him and the defenders but he praised the work of the management team and the team in general for tightening things up defensively.
“It was nice to get the first clean sheet out of the way,” said David. “Then to go and keep three on the bounce was great. Hopefully we can get a few more between now and the end of the season. At the start of the season it seemed like teams were creating a lot of chances against us. Once we kept the first one it didn’t feel like we were going to concede at all. That is credit to the work that Lee, Paul Williams and Simon Royce have done.
“We were working as a whole team after a couple of games and the work ethic and the pressing from the front has helped a lot. It is always nice to better [the 10 clean sheets I kept last season] but I won’t get too caught up in it. If it happens then great but if not, as long as I am doing my best in each game, I will be happy.”
David is looking forward to having a weekend away from football to spend time with his wife and new baby but admits that football will never be far from his mind.
“Football is always at the back of your mind over the break in terms of what you are eating and when you are sleeping,” said David. “With the wife and little one they are a big distraction for me so it is nice to go home to them, relax, and spend a proper weekend with them. Football is a fantastic job and there are so many perks to it but it is nice to be a normal person just for a weekend and have a couple of days with the family which we don’t often get. Breaks like these are nice when they come around but you are always looking forward to coming back as well.”
Bees Player subscribers can listen to the full interview with David below