Lee Carsley has backed under-pressure Nottingham Forest Manager Dougie Freedman as the Scot brings his side to Griffin Park for a Sky Bet Championship clash on Saturday.
Forest picked up their first win in nine with a 1-0 victory over Derby County in the East Midlands Derby ahead of the international break and, despite their poor recent run of form and the pressure on Freedman, Lee is expecting a tough match at Griffin Park.
Speaking to Bees Player Lee said: “I know Dougie Freedman quite well and I know how hard he works and how much pressure he puts himself under. He has done well at Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers under difficult circumstances. It will be a tough game for us as they are a good team. I saw them play against Derby County and they got a good result. Forest have got an illustrious history so anyone who goes in there has got to win a European Cup or Premier League. No matter how well you do it is really hard to replicate what has gone on in the past. There is a tradition and a style of play that the fans want to watch. It is tough enough winning matches without then having to win them in a certain way under a certain budget.”
Lee guided The Bees to four straight wins last month which saw them climb into the top half of the table and saw him pick up the October Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month award.
Coming back into training after the international break Lee feels the squad have rested well and will be ready to go on another good run of form, starting on Saturday.
“We have been able to assess where we are physically with the sessions that we have been doing,” said Lee. “We were coming off the back of six games in 21 days so it was important to find the right blend between the need to top the boys up and making sure that they had time to recover. We have changed the way that we get about teams and press and we realised that we haven’t used a lot of players so we have pushed them a lot.
“I think that we have found that right blend over the last couple of weeks and now everybody is looking forward to Saturday. The lads that are coming back from long-term injuries are making good progress but they are still no closer to playing. The next thing will be to play in an Under-21s game and we may arrange one of those.”
Lee refused to comment on any speculation that his time as Brentford Head Coach may be drawing to a close but said that if he is to be replaced then he has left the club in a stronger position for the new man to take over than he found it.
“Between myself and the club we both know where stand,” said Lee. “I had a remit when I took over of trying to get us back on track and we are moving in the right direction. When a new man is appointed the club will be in a better position than it was and moving in the right direction. The game on Saturday is the most important thing and we will worry about everything else after that.
“I would expect something to happen quite soon. The players are up to speed on everything that is going on and they are focussed on Saturday now. I was bought in short term to pick the club up and we have done that. As I have said all along the most important thing is the players and what happens with me is secondary.”
Bees Player subscribers can listen to the full interview below