Bradley Clayton hopes that Brentford’s opening day win against Millwall can be the start of a successful season for the Youth Team.
The Bees secured the three points thanks to goals from Tom Field and Seth Owens, either side of an Ebere Eze strike for the visitors.
Last season it took until the October for The Bees to register their first three points of the season and Bradley is delighted that the team have got off to a positive early start.
Speaking to Bees Player after the game Bradley said that he thought The Bees were well worth their three points and hopes that the confidence gained from the victory will help them put together a good run of early results.
“It was a perfect start for us,” said Bradley.
“We lost twice to Millwall last and they hammered us both times so to beat them and get off to a win in a great start.
“It was a pretty even game but I thought we battled well as a team.
“We tried to play our way but it got a bit scrappy.
“We won the majority of our one-on-one battles and so we came out with a win.
“In the back of our minds we remembered the results last season against Millwall.
“We wanted to get a bit of revenge and we wanted to make a good start.
“We want to make winning a habit because we didn’t do too well last season.
“We wanted to start off on the right foot.”
Bradley came into the game following a hugely successful Dale Farm Milk Cup campaign.
Even though The Bees failed to defend their title from two years ago Bradley chipped in with five goals in five games to be the tournament’s second top scorer.
For Bradley the confidence that he gained from his performances in Northern Ireland meant he has gone into this season feeling good about his game.
The striker thinks that belief can be translated into positive performances by both him and the team.
“I had a fantastic Milk Cup in the end even though our team didn’t get as far as we had hoped,” said Bradley.
“I scored quite a few goals and I was feeling good and I was feeling confident coming into the game.
“I felt that I could play well and that we could get the win.
“Confidence is everything.
“You play better with confidence.
“Hopefully we can turn this win into a streak and we can make winning a habit.
“As soon as you score one goal and get one win it can start a chain and you can end up having a great season.”
In the victory over Millwall Bradley was asked to play a lot with his back to goal a role he said he has been working on.
While Bradley is by nature a poacher he said it is important that he works on different aspects of his game so that he can help the team out in as many ways as possible.
“I come up against that with every team because they like their big strong centre-backs,” said Bradley.
“For me it was a good test to improve my shielding and see how I can handle the physical battle.
“I had to adapt to what the team needed.
“It was an end to end game and very high paced so I had to try and do that job as well as I could.
“I have been doing extra gym sessions trying to get stronger and handle it physically.
“We do sessions with Ose Aibangee on the pads to work on shielding under intense pressure.”
The Bees’ next fixture is a trip away to Barnsley on Saturday for the first of their nine games against sides from the Under-18 Professional Development League Two North.
Last season’s encounter ended in a 3-1 win for The Tykes but Bradley is looking to gain revenge for that defeat this time round.
As with last year the team will stay overnight ahead of the game and Bradley said that the stays away ahead of away games are something that he really enjoys and sees the benefit of.
“It should be a good game,” said Bradley.
“We will go there with full confidence and hopefully we can pick up the three points.
“I enjoy the long trips.
“You get to stay in a nice hotel and prepare really well.
“All the staff are there with you so you can work on tactics.
“It is all-round good preparation for the game.”