Jon Toral said he has enjoyed a great start to life at Brentford and is keen for that to continue, starting with tomorrow’s FA Cup tie with Brighton & Hove Albion at Griffin Park.
The 19-year-old has made 16 appearances in the first half of a season long loan at Griffin Park since joining from Arsenal in August.
After having more of a watching brief in the opening couple of months of the season Jon has since established himself as a key member of The Bees squad which currently occupies the final Sky Bet Championship play-off spot.
Speaking to Bees Player ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Brighton Jon said he feels he is improving with every passing game and praised the management staff for the way they have introduced him to league football.
The Spanish Youth International added that it has been great to learn off experienced players like Jonathan Douglas and Toumani Diagouraga.
“I am over the moon with my season so far,” said Jon.
“It has been great to get a few starts in the league and in the Capital One Cup already.
“I am feeling confident and I am enjoying it a lot.
“It has been a learning curve for me.
“It is my first professional season and the Championship is a hard league to play in but I feel more comfortable with every game that goes by.
“Mark Warburton said he was going to control my minutes on the pitch.
“It couldn’t be too much too quick and I think the whole staff have done a great job with me.
“I am enjoying every minute and I want to enjoy every chance that I get like I have done so far.
“For me it is important to have experienced players around me and I know that I can learn a lot from them.
“I am learning a lot from people like Jonathan Douglas, Toumani Diagouraga and Tommy Smith in training and in games or when I am watching them from the outside.
“I want to keep getting in the team and keep enjoying the experience in the Championship with a very good team.”
Despite back-to-back defeats over Christmas The Bees remain very much in the promotion shake up, going into the new year sixth in the table, three points above seventh placed Norwich City.
A 4-2 home defeat on Boxing Day to Ipswich Town was followed by an unfortunate 2-1 defeat away at Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday.
Jon admitted it was disappointing not to pick up any points over the festive period but said that shouldn’t detract from what has been an outstanding season so far.
“We are obviously disappointed with the last two defeats but we are looking forward to the next game,” said Jon.
“It is football that when you get a bad result you just can’t wait until the next game to make it right.
“We were unlucky in the last two games, especially against Wolverhampton Wanderers, not to get something from the game because it was a good performance.
“We are now thinking about Brighton & Hove Albion and the FA Cup and everyone is looking forward to it.
“It has been a great season so far.
“Nobody expected us to be in the play-off spots but now we are fighting for them.
“There is still a long way to go but I think if we keep performing this way we will be somewhere around the play-offs.
“We just need to keep working hard and see where it takes us.”
The Bees take a break from league action tomorrow when Chris Hughton’s Brighton visit in the FA Cup Third Round.
Jon was at Arsenal last year when The Gunners won the FA Cup, to secure their first trophy in nine years, and he believes there is something special about an extended FA Cup run.
This season's league encounter at Griffin Park between the two sides ended 3-2 to The Bees and Jon is expecting another open footballing game tomorrow.
“Everyone is looking forward to playing in the FA Cup,” said Jon.
“We have to think about how we can beat Brighton and how we can get to the next round.
“We are keen to enjoy it as long as we can.
“The FA Cup win at Arsenal was a big win because it was the cup and everyone wants to win it.
“With that long spell of time without a title it was great to win it.
“When you keep going through rounds and get to that final at Wembley it is great.
“We need to think about Brighton first and then see where that takes us.
“Tomorrow will be two teams who want to play football.
“Brighton have proved that over the last few years and it is going to be a very good game of football.”