Dean Smith was delighted with his side’s first half showing as they made it five home wins in six matches after a 4-2 victory over Huddersfield Town at Griffin Park this afternoon.
The Bees went ahead inside five minutes as Sergi Canos swept home and that lead was doubled shortly after when Lasse Vibe collected James Tarkowski’s through ball and smashed past Jed Steer from close range. Alan Judge made it 3-0 with a free-kick just before the break to put The Bees well in control at the interval.
The second-half started badly for The Bees with Joe Lolley pulling one back almost instantly but Judge won and then converted a penalty ten minutes later to restore the three goal cushion. Despite a late Kyle Dempsey strike for The Terriers, Dean was pleased with his side’s overall performance even if, as a former defender himself, he would have liked his team to be tighter defensively.
“It was a good win today,” said Dean. “Any win you get is a good win but I thought we were outstanding in the first half and deserved to be 3-0 up. But for the start of the second-half it could have been the perfect game, however, we started sloppily and they started brightly with the two substitutions. We got back to a three goal lead and after that they had a couple of chances and we had a few chances.
“It was end to end and we should have had a penalty to put us 5-1 up and give Alan Judge his hat-trick. Instead the referee decided not to give it and they went up the other end to score with a bit of a defensive slip. You can only get three points for win and I am really pleased with the attitude and application in the two home games that we have had. It is exciting at the moment but it would be nice to have less goals in the against column. As a former defender I know how the back five will be feeling and we need a few more clean sheets to guarantee us victories.”
Brentford pressed from the off against a Huddersfield side looking for back to back wins under new Head Coach David Wagner. With Lasse Vibe and the midfield trio of John Swift, Alan Judge and Sergi Canos pressing from the front The Bees continually won the ball back high up the pitch and were able to get on the front foot with Dean saying it was really pleasing to see the gameplan come off so well.
“We knew that Huddersfield could be a really dangerous team and we had a strategy and a gameplan set up for it which the boys executed perfectly,” said Dean. “They are a team that want to play out from the back and try and play through the lines of the defence. We felt that if we set traps we could win the ball back off them early and we did that. People talk about a high press but there has got to be a right time to go and do it. The players are picking the right times to do it at the moment which is so important. They played quite a high line as well and James Tarkowski has spotted that and played Lasse Vibe in for a great finish.”
Today’s three points move The Bees up to ninth, two points off the Play-Offs, ahead of the Boxing Day visit of Brighton and Hove Albion. With players returning from injury and on a run of just two defeats in 12 in the league Dean said his side will approach this Christmas period full of confidence.
“The team are in a good place, looking forward to each game and they don’t fear anyone,” said Dean. “We have got respect for the teams that we are coming up against because in this league you can’t rest at any time. I have a good squad of players that I can chose from and they are all itching to be in the team. I have made three changes today and the lads that have come in have taken their chances. We have got a lot of strength and I have ended up having to leave Nico Yennaris and Konstantin Kerschbaumer out of the squad today. They have been very good players for us over the last three games and that just shows the competition for places we have.”
Bees Player subscribers can watch the full interview with Dean below