Striker Kaye Furo will be absent for a spell after undergoing an operation on Monday morning, Keith Andrews has confirmed.
The 19-year-old, who picked up the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award following impressive performances for Brentford B, was set to start Tuesday night's Carabao Cup round three tie against Reading (8pm kick-off BST, live on Sky Sports+).
“Kaye Furo has picked up an injury in the last few days in training,” Bees head coach Andrews confirmed.
“Unfortunately for him, he’s had to have an operation this [Monday] morning. The timing of an injury is obviously never good for a player, but I felt he was just coming into a really good place with his game.
“That’s really frustrating for him. I would’ve started him against Reading because I felt he deserved it and was in that type of space.
“I’m not sure how long he’s going to be out for but we’ll obviously look after him and get him back to a good place.”
“I’m not sure how long he’s going to be out for but we’ll obviously look after him and get him back to a good place”
One youngster who will be involved at Select Car Leasing Stadium is centre-back Benjamin Fredrick.
On the Nigeria international, who had a loan spell at Belgian Pro League side FCV Dender last term but is yet to make his senior debut for the club, Andrews added: “He hasn’t had a lot of football but has come back in the last couple of weeks.
“We decided not to play him in the B team game on Sunday to make sure he was in the right place to be available for our game against Reading.
“I anticipate he’ll be involved.”
Andrews was also asked about where the domestic cup competitions sit in Brentford's list of priorities this season, and about the test of taking on the League One Royals on Tuesday night.
“We’ve got 5,000 fans going to the game and that, for me, says it all about the belief that fans have that we are taking it very seriously,” he responded.
“It’s a priority, and not just because it’s the next game. We didn’t get to exactly where we wanted to last year, but that’s the plan this year.
“Next up is Reading. We’ll put a team out we feel is right to compete against Reading and, hopefully, get us into the next round.”
