Dean Smith felt that belief played a big role in his team’s victory this afternoon as they picked up their first win of the season thanks to two second-half goals from John Egan. After a goalless first 45 minutes against Ipswich Town, Egan powered home a Lewis Macleod corner just after the restart before getting his second seven minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball inside the box. The victory gave Brentford their first points of the season and Dean said that there were still things to work on, despite the impressive victory.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match, Dean said: “I thought in the first 25 minutes we sat off them too much and weren’t good enough on the ball. I thought we finished the half well, Lewis Macleod missed a good chance. The goal coming when it did gave us a lot of belief. We worked some really good openings but there is still a lot more we can work on and a lot more to come. The goal gave us something to hold onto but it wasn’t a case of holding onto it, we were looking for more. The belief came into the players and I told them in the dressing room that I believe they are a good Championship team and they sometimes have to believe it themselves. We didn’t have that belief in the first 25 minutes but no team is going to make it easy for you.”
Aside from the two goals, The Bees created a number of chances from set-pieces against a physical Ipswich Town outfit. Dean revealed that they have been doing a lot of work on that side of the game in training and he was very pleased that it bore fruit this afternoon.
“We worked the first one really well,” said Dean. “It was a training ground routine and a really good header from John Egan. We worked the second one well in terms of the second phase. Nico Yennaris knows where he should be and where the header might go. He has read it really well got a shot that the keeper has parried and John has popped it in. I am really pleased to score from two set-pieces and we worked some really good opportunities after that as well. The one that Sam Saunders put over would have been a fantastic goal in any league.”
The Bees are straight back into action this Tuesday when Nottingham Forest are the visitors to West London. Dean said his team can go into the match against Forest full of confidence and he is looking forward to being back at Griffin Park again.
“I said to the players today that I am really looking forward to the week with two home games on the spin,” said Dean. “The first home game to send the supporters home happy and then if you can get the performance and the result then it bodes well for the second game. We are looking forward to the game against Nottingham Forest now.”