Brentford head coach Thomas Frank was delighted by his players’ response to the defeat at West Ham United on Monday, as the Bees drew 2-2 with Chelsea at Gtech Community Stadium.
After a disappointing display in east London earlier this week, Frank’s side returned to TW8 and put in an “incredible” second-half performance to come from behind and get a point against their west London rivals.
Frank began: “I wanted a bounce back from the players after a bad performance against West Ham, because that was not us - and the response I saw today was extremely pleasing, I must say.
“The first half was fine, good, not through the roof. But second half, wow, incredible. Playing against one of the biggest clubs in the league, we have so many key players out, and the way the players responded today is fantastic. I'm so, so pleased and so proud of them.
“The whole week they have been good, from coming in Tuesday, the way they spoke up at half-time, after the game, in training - it's a special group of players and they are driving it from within the squad.”
"The second half was, wow, incredible. Playing against one of the biggest clubs in the league, we have so many key players out, and the way the players responded today is fantastic. I'm so, so pleased and so proud of them"
The Brentford supporters were in fine voice during the second half of the game at the Gtech, and Frank is keen to hear more of the same from the fans as during the final stretch of the Premier League season.
"The fans are so important,” he stated. “I spoke before the game, I said that I promise I will fight, the staff will fight, the players will fight, and we'll do that until the end - but we need the fans there.
“They are crucial, they helped us so much today, just driving us on to go wave after wave.
“The only little ‘but’ is, after the 2-2 goal, I know it's a little bit nervy and stuff like that, but we need them still. They need to still be vocal.”