Jake Bidwell said Brentford’s pre-season win over Boreham Wood was a chance to “blow the cobwebs away” as the build-up to the 2015/16 Sky Bet Championship season continued.
The Bees won 3-0 on a warm Hertfordshire afternoon yesterday with Andre Gray scoring twice and Jota smashing in a spectacular effort.
Jake spoke to Bees PlayerHD after playing 45 minutes in the win and said it was good to be back in the rhythm of playing games.
He played in a defence that included new signing Andreas Bjelland and Yoann Barbet and said he felt The Bees produced a good performance after a slow start.
Jake said: “These games blow the cobwebs away and help us work towards full fitness. It was a good exercise today. I got 45 minutes and a few of the lads got a bit longer, which is good.
“It’s good to get in to the rhythm of playing games. We all go through our pre-match routine, which is good.
“A 3-0 victory, no goals conceded, that’s always good. I feel we are really getting back in to it now.
“The more time you get ion the pitch the better you feel. We have a busy few weeks coming up and the closer we get to the start of the season the better we will feel.
“I thought it was good overall. We were sloppy for the first few minutes but then we settled down and took control of the game. We scored a couple of good goals and none conceded, which is positive.
“This is only our second game, the pitch was dry and it was warm, that probably contributed to a slow start but once we got going we were fine.”
Jake said he was looking forward to learning under new Head Coach Marinus Dijkhuizen, who arrived at Brentford this summer to replace Mark Warburton.
The left back said he expected some changes in Brentford’s style but the players had been told the new coaching team wanted to build on last season, when The Bees finished fifth in the Sky Bet Championship.
Jake said: “The defensive line was good, it was the first time I played with Yoann and Andreas. We were talking all the time and they both speak very good English, which helps. There were no problems.
“My role for the season will become clear over the next couple of weeks. The Head Coach has said we have a good base to build on and he wants to add to that. There might be a few differences but it is a chance to learn from a new manager and a new philosophy. It is up to me to take it on board.
“It is always good to experience different things. I have worked with Uwe Rösler, a German manager, Mark Warburton and now Marinus, who is Dutch. There will be little differences and I need to use them to improve.”
A full interview with Jake Bidwell is on Bees PlayerHD below.