Brentford Manager Mark Warburton said his team would be looking to dominate the football against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow and cut the supply to one of the division’s leading strike pairs.
The Bees welcome Blackburn to Griffin Park for a Sky Bet Championship fixture tomorrow afternoon.
Both teams will be looking to bounce back after defeats last weekend, Blackburn to Sheffield Wednesday and Brentford at Huddersfield Town.
The visitors will have Rudy Gestede and Jordan Rhodes in their ranks, who have scored 18 Championship goals between them and Mark said he was aware of their quality.
The Brentford boss, speaking to Bees Player, said wide men Ben Marshall and Tom Cairney would try to supply the strikers, Lee Williamson would play a role in midfield and Rovers had quality in defence with Alex Baptiste, Marcus Olsson, Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy.
But he said if The Bees had the ball, any threat would be nullified.
“Blackburn are a very well organised side,” said Mark.
“They have some outstanding individuals.
“We are aware of the threat of Gestede and Rhodes up front, they use Cairney on the right cutting on to his left foot and Marshall on the left cutting on to his right.
“Handley and Duffy provide physicality at the back and they have Baptiste and Olsson at full back.
“Williamson is an experienced performer in midfield; he gets the ball and gives it.
“They are in a good position in the league, just behind us, and will have been disappointed last weekend, as we were.
“It will be a high quality game, I hope, and a tough challenge.
“We will be looking at the supply to their strikers and how we can impose our style.
“If we have the ball it won’t matter how good they are.
“We need to look after it, dominate posession, move the ball quickly and see how it impacts them.”
Mark celebrated a year as Brentford Manager on Wednesday, December 10.
He took the role last year when Uwe Rösler left the Club and he stepped in from his previous position as Sporting Director.
He led The Bees to promotion from Sky Bet League One last season and said he wanted to continue to take the Club forward.
“It has been a really pleasing year,” said Mark.
“The players’ reaction to change and reaction to disappointment has been brilliant.
“They got their just rewards last year and didn’t stand still.
“Hopefully we can take it forward again.
“This is an intense job, the fixtures are demanding.
“I really enjoy it.
“When I was Sporting Director I was a frustrated coach.
“I enjoy working with players on the grass and working with the coaches.
“I was reminded the average tenure in the Championship is less than ten months but I hope I can push on now.”
Toumani Diagouraga signed a new contract on Tuesday, December 9, keeping him at Brentford until the summer of 2017.
Toumani has started the last six games in a row and Mark said the new deal was a reward for his consistent performances and his work on and off the pitch.
“Toumani has been a model pro,” said Mark.
“He was frustrated at not getting more pitch time but had to show more consistency.
“We knew he had the ability, this year he has delivered it on a consistent basis.
“I am delighted for him, he loves the Club.
“It is nice when you work with Toumani on the key principles and see it come off.
“We worked on his pitch geography; he needed to be in the right areas to boss a game.
“He works with the analysts, he works hard on and off the pitch and the contract is a reward for his endeavours.”
Brentford sent a clutch of First Team players – including Richard Lee, James Tarkowski, Sam Saunders and Nico Yennaris – to Ipswich Town for a Development Squad game on Tuesday.
Mark said his squad was at full strength and players were fighting for a place.
“Richard Lee was in goal, James Tarkowski was excellent against a big centre forward,” said Mark.
“Sam got 90 minutes, as did Nico Yennaris.
“All the players are desperate to play.
“We have three or four players disappointed not to make the 18 every week.”
Brentford’s defeat at Huddersfield ended a run of five straight wins.
Mark had kept an unchanged side for three games in a row – the wins over Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers and the defeat to Huddersfield – and said he would think about whether he should make any changes.
He said with two games in three days just after Christmas he would need his squad.
“We want to win every game and we feel we should have got something out of it but we have 15 points from 18,” said Mark.
“We have moved forward and trained well.
“We now look forward to Blackburn.
“There is a strong case for playing the same XI but also we might look at giving the boys a bit of a rest and using them off the bench.
“There are different schools of thought.
“We have players on the bench that can impact games and over the Christmas period we will have to use our squad.
“We play on December 26 and 28 there will be niggling injuries and fatigue.
“We have to see how players respond.
“Getting ten minutes five games in a row doesn’t help anyone.
“We might use the same starting XI, we might make two or three changes, we will look at it.”
There are only a few hundred tickets left for tomorrow’s match and Mark praised the Brentford fans for their continued support.
He said he wanted to entertain a large pre-Christmas crowd and ensure they were back again when The Bees entertained Ipswich Town on Boxing Day.
“The crowd is fantastic,” said Mark.
“At a time of financial hardship the fans come home and away.
“We have to make sure they enjoy their day out.
“We want to produce football they will enjoy watching and bring them back for the Ipswich game on Boxing Day.”
A full video interview with Mark Warburton is available here for Bees Player subscribers.