Jake Bidwell said Brentford matched non-league Staines Town for energy in their FA Cup with Budweiser match yesterday afternoon, and allowed their quality to shine through.
The Bees booked a place in the Second Round with a 5-0 win at Griffin Park.
Alan McCormack scored the opening goal from the penalty spot and there were further strikes from Jake Reeves, Kadeem Harris, Marcello Trotta and Clayton Donaldson.
Jake, speaking to Bees Player after the match, said Brentford’s players knew Staines would treat it as the highlight of their season.
He said Brentford had to earn the right to allow their ability to show through – and they did.
“We can't ask for any more,” said the left back.
“We got five goals and a clean sheet.
“It can be a banana skin and, with all due respect, it’s probably their biggest game of the season.
“You know they will come here and be up for it.
“I think we handled that well and five goals, none conceded, we can’t ask for more.
“We had to show why we were playing leagues above them.
“If we matched them for energy we believed our quality would shine through.
“It did in the end.”
Jake said the First Round tie was one that could have got difficult if it had remained scoreless for too long.
He said the first half goals from Alan McCormack, Jake Reeves and Kadeem Harris eased any nerves.
He admitted he was hoping to get a chance to score himself but it was not to be.
“The longer you go without scoring, it can get nervous,” said Jake.
“But going 3-0 up by half time settled us down.
“The lads handled it well.
“Once you match them for energy the quality shows through.
“The lads have been on at me to score, I was trying my hardest to score but I can’t complain at 5-0.”
Jake missed nearly two months earlier in the season but has now played the last seven games.
Brentford have won the last five of those and Jake said he was getting stronger.
Those five wins came after a defeat to Stevenage and a lengthy post-match meeting involving Brentford’s players and management team.
Jake said it may be coincidence that the form has improved since then but it did not hurt the squad.
“The longer I play and the more games I play the stronger I feel,” said Jake.
“I am right back to full fitness.
“It remains to be seen if the lay-off will help me later in the season.
“I can’t speak from experience; I haven’t had an injury before.
“I want to play as well as I can for as long as I can and hopefully that will see me through the season.
“Over the recent weeks we have had a settled back four which can help.
“Three clean sheets on the bounce gives us a chance going the other way.
“A few people got a chance to get things off their chest at Stevenage.
“Maybe it is a coincidence or maybe it has had a part to play.
“It seems to have done no harm.”
Jake said Brentford’s FA Cup run last season – when they reached the Fourth Round and came within a few minutes of beating Chelsea – was great for the squad.
He said the players wanted to get through to take on another big team this year.
“Last year was great for the lads,” he said.
“We have a lot of players that aspire to play at that level.
“If you can get a test like Chelsea away or something like that, it is a test of where you are at.
“Hopefully we can get ourselves in to the hat for the Third Round.”
Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with Jake Bidwell here.