Dean Smith felt it was a job well done after Brentford picked up a second win in four days following a 3-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers at Griffin Park on Tuesday night. The three points, which moved Dean's side 12 points clear of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone, were given to The Bees thanks to a first-half brace from Lasse Vibe and Nico Yennaris’s second goal in two matches. Bolton improved in the second-half but the league's bottom side only had Zach Clough’s penalty to show for their efforts.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Dean said: “I thought that we were excellent in the first-half. We scored three good goals and it could have been more. Lasse Vibe was playing the other side of them. We felt that if they played a high line we could get in behind them. We did that and scored three really good goals. The second-half probably takes the gloss off it a little bit but, with the run that we have been on, if someone had offered me these two wins with three goals in each three weeks ago, I would have taken it. It was comfortable in the end and I am pleased with the win.
“They were always going to change. They aren’t going to go in at half-time and have the management tell them to do what they had been doing in the first-half. The game was always going to change slightly. We didn’t have that zip about us that we had in the first-half and I think that we felt it was job done. We had to be professional about what we did. They got a penalty and we should have got a penalty at the other end: Nico Yennaris was about to head it and he got pulled back. The most important thing at this time is results and to get six points in two games is a great achievement considering the run of form we were on.”
Dean was quick to praise the performance of Nico Yennaris in the midfield after the former Arsenal man grabbed his second goal in four days. Having being a bit-part player in the earlier months of the season Nico has now started The Bees last nine matches. With the return to full fitness of Maxime Colin, Nico has moved from right-back to centre-midfield and Dean feels that is bringing the best out of the 22-year-old right now.
“Nico Yennaris looks fantastic at the moment,” said Dean. “He looks like a Rolls-Royce in the centre of midfield. We have been really pleased with his contributions as well. I have always rated Nico as a player. Since the early days I have watched him as an Arsenal youngster. It is nice to come here and have a player like that playing so well at the moment with the other players around him complimenting him.”
Next up for The Bees is a trip to East Anglia to take on Mick McCarthy’s Play-Off chasing Ipswich Town. Dean is eyeing up another three points to cap off a great week and propel his side further up the Championship standings.
“I am really looking forward to Ipswich Town on Saturday now,” said Dean. “It is a chance for us to go and get three wins on the spin. That would be a great way to finish the week but also a great way to start April as well. We just have to keep looking to the next game. We have jumped a few places tonight but you can see how tight the middle of the league is right now. I am sure that the players will still have their eyes on a top ten finish but we have to continue to put 90 minute performances in.”
Bees Player subscribers can watch the full interview with Dean below