Dean Smith felt his side deserved at least a point from tonight’s trip to Derby County but admitted he was disappointed it wasn’t more after referee Scott Duncan turned down a strong penalty appeal late on. Romaine Sawyers looked to be hauled down inside the box when poised to shoot but the referee and his assistant only awarded a goal kick. Speaking after the goalless draw at The iPro Stadium, Dean said he had seen the incident again and couldn’t believe that the referee hadn’t pointed to the spot.
“I thought we got our just rewards although I am bitterly disappointed we couldn’t come away with more because we had a blatant penalty shout and the lad would have been sent off as well,” said Dean, speaking to Bees Player. “I have seen it back and he has pulled Romaine Sawyers’ arm back when he is clean through and about to shoot. It was a penalty all day long. I think their bench was surprised that we didn’t get it and I think the referee and his assistant have made a poor decision there and probably cost us two points.”
After a cagey first-half the game opened up more after the break as both sides sensed there was a chance to take all three points. Following on from Saturday’s disappointing 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United, Dean was much happier with his side’s defensive shape and felt they were unlucky not to find a way past Scott Carson to take the points.
“We were much better than we were on Saturday defensively: our discipline was very good and that is with a back four that hasn’t played together too much with Harlee Dean being out suspended,” said Dean. “As a team I thought our intensity to close down was better and that was something that we had talked about and worked on. We defended from the front really well: Scott Hogan worked his socks off as normal. He was supported by Romaine who was unfortunate not to score tonight, he has hit the post and it has come back to hit the goalkeeper on the head, and he has had a chance that he probably feels he should have hit the target with. Their keeper has also made a great save from John Egan. As a team I felt we worked a lot harder and a lot better than Saturday.”
With Harlee Dean suspended, Andreas Bjelland moved into the centre of the defence and Yoann Barbet returned at left-back as The Bees kept their sixth clean sheet in 13 league matches this season. Aside from one fine first-half save Daniel Bentley was untroubled in The Bees goal with Dean pleased with the way the defence stood up to Derby’s attacking talent.
“We knew that they had players who could play through you and we didn’t want to allow that,” said Dean. “We wanted more intensity in our pressing and we got that. We restricted them to few chances. Dan Bentley has made one really good save but other than that he was untroubled. For having less of the ball, we created better chances. Andreas Bjelland got back into his natural position and gave us more of a balance. Yoann Barbet did really well against Tom Ince who is a big threat with his pace and trickery. I don’t want anybody to feel comfortable that they have got a position in the team. They all have to work really hard to remain in the team. That is the message that I wanted to get into the players from the start of the season and it will continue.”
After two tough away trips, The Bees return to Griffin Park on Saturday as Barnsley head to West London. The match will be Brentford’s 4,000th in the EFL and Dean is looking forward to being back in front of the home fans as the team aim to pick up a fifth home win in seven this campaign.
“It will certainly be nice to get back to Griffin Park,” said Dean. “It is a game that I will be looking forward to although I know what a threat Barnsley can be. They have started the season really well in this league and they have got goalscorers all over the pitch. It will be nice to be in front of our home fans. It will be a good turnout again on a Saturday and it will be nice to get the three points before the two live local derbies. If we can get that result then it will certainly put us in the top six or eight.”