Harlee Dean said he will definitely be claiming the winning goal in Brentford’s 3-2 victory at Millwall yesterday.
The Bees had taken a 2-0 lead before being pegged back to 2-2 but got the winner midway through the second half.
Millwall had scrambled a Jon Toral shot off the line but not cleared the ball properly, it was worked back to Andre Gray, who had scored Brentford’s first two goals, and he drilled it across, Harlee slid in with Danny Shittu and the ball nestled in the net.
Harlee, speaking to Bees Player after the match, said he got a touch but the goal was officially credited as a Shittu own goal.
The win was Brentford’s third in a week after victories over Derby County and Nottingham Forest and Harlee hailed the way The Bees responded after conceding two goals.
“I definitely scored the third goal,” he said.
“I got a touch on it.
“It was a great bit of movement in the box; I lost him and finished it in the bottom corner.
“A goal was nice, I haven’t scored for a while, and the winner anywhere is nice.
“It was a great performance from the boys.
“We dug in deep and it has capped off a good week.
“You can’t get better than nine points from nine.
“To be 2-0 up, concede two goals and then go and get the winner shows the character from the boys.”
Harlee said Brentford’s players had done the right things over the past few days to give themselves the best chance of getting successive wins.
He said the players were full of confidence and believed in the football they were playing as Brentford Manager Mark Warburton had been encouraging them to.
He also praised the Club’s medical and conditioning staff for their work in getting the team ready for three matches in seven days.
“We are confident,” said Harlee.
“The manager has been telling us that the minute we believe we are good enough to go again we will.
“This week has shown we can compete with the big boys and we can outplay them.
“If we play our football and do what we do we will go far.
“The medical team have been great this week.
“They have got us recovered and fit.
“I hurt my ankle on Wednesday and they got me right.
“We have done the right things and it has paid dividends.”
Brentford scored either side of half time and Harlee said the goals came at good times.
But within three minutes of Brentford taking a 2-0 lead Millwall had scored twice to level up.
Harlee said that was something the team had to address.
“It is good to score just before half time in any game,” said the defender.
“It took the wind out of their sails and we came out after half time and got another one early.
“They are good times to score.
“But we have to learn from conceding those two goals quickly.
“We got the points and no-one can complain.
“We will look at what happened after our second goal and work on it.
“We have to make sure if we concede we don’t concede again.”
Harlee said Brentford never stopped believing in what they were doing and that is why they got the winner.
He had special praise for central defensive colleague Tony Craig, a former Millwall player, but said everyone played their part.
“We carried on doing what we were doing after they equalised,” said Harlee.
“We didn’t want to change anything, carry on playing our football and make sure the crowd didn’t get on top of us.
“We had to believe.
“We did all of that and that is why we got the winner.
“We knew they would play long balls late on and it would be a physical battle.
“We dealt with it well.
“Tony Craig had the best game I have seen him have in a Brentford shirt and I am sure he is happy it was here.
“He won every ball and we needed people like that all over the pitch – we had them.
“Everyone played the part and we did well.”
Harlee described the last week as “perfect”.
He said the players had been professional and got their rewards.
“The last week has been perfect,” said Harlee.
“I am glad to be playing and glad that we are winning games that I am playing.
“We are in the top six having just beaten Forest, Derby and Millwall; you can’t get much better than that.
“It is testament to all the staff and to ourselves.
“We have been professional and got the rewards.”
Brentford now have almost two weeks without a game due to international fixtures.
Their next match is against Fulham on Friday November 21, which will be live on Sky Sports.
“It is nice to get a break but given our form and confidence we would like to play again tomorrow,” said Harlee.
“We will recover, come back and play Fulham on TV.
“That is another massive game.
“We will recover and get ready to play our football so we can go and beat them.”
Bees Player subscribers can see post-match reaction from Harlee Dean here.