James Tarkowski said Brentford’s players were very disappointed to lose to Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday as they felt they were the better side.
The Bees were beaten 2-1 at Molineux, their second loss in three days after defeat to Ipswich Town on Boxing Day.
James said Brentford were aggrieved by Wolves’ first goal, when Nouha Dicko was offside but allowed to continue and raced through to score, and were disappointed to concede a second.
Kevin McDonald, who may be credited with the second goal, was sent off and a cross from Jake Bidwell deflected in to halve the deficit but Brentford couldn’t find a leveller.
“We are very disappointed,” said James, speaking to Bees Player.
“We think we played reasonably well and are a bit aggrieved with the first goal.
“It was offside.
“But those things happen throughout a season.
“We were disappointed to concede a second, which left us needing two goals to get back in to the game.
“They had a man sent off and we were back in it and we had a chance at the end to take a draw.
“We feel we were the better side but didn’t take our chances.”
James said he had watched the replay of Wolves’ first goal and it was offside.
But he said it was one of the things that can happen in football and Brentford may benefit in the future.
“We played a high line, they were looking to get in behind us a lot,” explained James.
“We had a good line.
“I have seen it back, it was offside.
“But you get them; we may get one in a couple of weeks.”
Wolves’ second goal was officially credit to James as an own goal.
A James Henry cross was met by Ranjiv van La Parra, his header hit the crossbar but McDonald followed up, David Button saved but it hit James and bounced in.
“It went down the side again and there was a good cross,” said James.
“David saved the first one, it’s come out, he has saved again, it hit me and went in.
“I thought we defended reasonably well but we conceded two goals so you can’t say we did that well.”
James said he always felt Brentford could get back in to the game.
“Even before the sending off I felt we had a good chance,” he said.
“We played well, moved the ball well and got it forward.
“We might not have had as many clear cut chances as we would have liked but we had posession and penned them in their own half.
“They sat deep after the man was sent off.
“We got the goal from a deflection and I felt we would get another.”
James has been out of the side since mid-October.
He picked up a fifth yellow card against Wigan Athletic, was suspended for the next match and has been unable to dislodge Harlee Dean or Tony Craig as The Bees won seven of the ten games he missed, including a run of seven victories in eight.
James said he knew he had to be patient and wait for his chance and two games in three days over Christmas gave him an opportunity to get back in the side.
He said he felt he played well enough to get another go but knew he needed to maintain a high level to stay in the side.
“I was pleased to get back out there and get 90 minutes under my belt,” said James.
“I feel quite good.
“I have kept my fitness up and played Development Squad games while I have been out of the side.
“We were on top of the game so I didn’t have that much to do.
“It was hard being out of the team but I said when I was in the team that there would be a point where I was on the bench.
“You have to stay quiet and be patient.
“I am part of a team fighting for promotion to the Premier League at the moment.
“We have won a few games on the bounce and I had to wait for my chance.
“I have had it now and hopefully I will get more games in the coming weeks.
“I can’t whinge about not playing if the team wins every week.
“The manager needed to rotate with two games in three days and I had my chance.
“I feel I did well enough to get another chance.
“We are all fighting for a spot; all of us have to play our best to keep our places.”
Despite two defeats in three days, Brentford end 2014 sixth in the Sky Bet Championship.
“We are disappointed but are still in the Play-Off positions,” said James.
“We have a great chance to go and play for the next 22 games and get ourselves in to the top six.
“We will see where we go from there.”
A full video interview with James Tarkowski is available here for Bees Player subscribers.