Harlee Dean thinks a fast start, like the one they enjoyed on their last trip to Nottingham Forest, will be key for Brentford when they head to The City Ground this Saturday. Last season saw The Bees 2-0 up at the break before cruising to a 3-1 win against the side from the East Midlands and Harlee is targeting similar this time round.
“Playing at Nottingham Forest last year was one of our best performances,” said Harlee. “We went there, got on top of them, and silenced the crowd. They are on as bad a run as us at the moment so it is going to be an important game. Hopefully we can go up there and get some points. You always try and silence the crowd when you go away to big clubs and big stadiums. We need to make sure we start on the front foot and not concede early goals like we have recently.”
Brentford head to Nottingham on the back of four straight league defeats however Saturday’s opponents are barely in better form themselves, winning just one of their last eight matches. Forest are now managed by former Brentford Assistant Head Coach Paul Williams and Harlee expects a high intensity performance from Forest.
“Working with Paul Williams they are going to be fit and fast and they will press us all over,” said Harlee. “He is going to have them playing energetic football with enthusiasm. It will be a tough test. They are a good club and with Paul in charge they have probably stepped up a gear now albeit they haven’t had the form. They are going to be energetic and press us but we are going to be the same. It will come down to who can be composed, get on the ball, and create things.”
Saturday’s match starts a run of nine matches in six weeks leading up to the end of the season. The 24-year-old says he enjoys the quickfire nature of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday matches but he will enjoy it even more if The Bees can start to put some wins together.
“I love playing Saturday and Tuesday because it is a lot better than training,” said Harlee. “It won’t be good if we don’t win. We need to get some points on the board. It has been too long without a win. As much as you say to take it one game at a time we are looking over our shoulders so we need to turn the corner and start getting some results.”
Bees Player subscribers can watch the full interview with Harlee below