Scott Hogan believes that any one of a number of Brentford players could have walked away with the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month award for September. The striker took the coveted prize this morning after finding the net six times in five matches last month but was quick to praise the role his teammates played in his, and the team's, form last month.
Speaking after picking up the award Scott said: “I won one of these when I was at Rochdale and it is a nice achievement. It is not just for myself: there are three or four people in the team who probably deserve the award just as much as me. Harlee Dean, John Egan, and Daniel Bentley could easily have won this award as well. Since I have been back, in three footballing months, I have been nominated twice and won one now which isn’t bad going. It is a team thing and if someone is getting rewarded then it is because the team are doing the right thing. Personal achievements are team achievements. If someone wins the Player of the Month then it is because the team have helped them and it is a team effort really.”
The 24-year-old started September by scoring both goals in the 2-0 win at Brighton and Hove Albion before adding another three a week later in a 5-0 home win over Preston North End. A late goal in the 4-1 victory over Reading took his monthly tally to six and the striker has warned that he feels there is still more to come from him as he looks to hit the 30 goal mark this season.
“None of the goals stand out but I think that I should have more to be honest,” said Scott. “I will look back at the end of the season and I might think that I like one of them but, at the end of the day, if you score a nice goal it doesn’t count as two. As long as they keep going in the back of the net I don’t care what they look like. Hopefully I can just keep going. My target at the start of the season was to get 30 goals and I think that I am well on the way to getting that. Now that the season has got going and the team have got going I should be able to kick on and find that extra ten or 15 per cent that is still in me. The same goes for the team and once we get that extra ten or 15 per cent anything is possible.”
Dean Smith’s side have taken 11 points from the last six matches to head into this weekend’s international break very much in the promotion shake-up, sitting two points outside the Play-Off places in seventh. Scott feels that the last six games have provided a great platform from which to kick on and admitted he was surprised there was no Manager of the Month nomination for Dean, given the side’s recent run.
“I have spoken to the gaffer and I told him that he should have got a nomination as he has a similar record to a couple who are in there,” said Scott. “It has been a solid month. We would have liked to have got three points against Wigan Athletic and we should possibly have got a point against Wolves but it didn’t work out that way. The month gave us a starting point and now, for the rest of the season, we have a point which we can build from. It is all about moving beyond that point rather than going backwards. There is an extra ten to 15 per cent there and hopefully now we can start picking up through the gears and turning draws into wins and losses into draws.”
First up after the international break is a trip to Newcastle United, followed four days later by a visit to Derby County. The Bees then host Barnsley at Griffin Park in our 4000th EFL league match before local derbies against Queens Park Rangers and Fulham to round off the next block of games. Scott admitted he is excited by some of the big fixtures coming up but feels The Bees should approach the games with no fear and believes maximum points from the matches is a realistic aim.
“We have a nice few games coming up and hopefully we can pick up as many points, score as many goals, and keep as many clean sheets as possible,” said Scott. “It doesn’t matter who you play in this league it is unpredictable. I got my taste of a London derby last year against Fulham and I saw the QPR game. I know what London derbies are, especially West London derbies. The added spice will be nice and they will be competitive games. Derby County have maybe turned a corner and Newcastle are Newcastle. I have no fear going anywhere and I have full confidence in picking up 12 points out of those four games. You also can’t forget about Barnsley at home as they are scoring goals for fun as well. It is a nice month to have and hopefully we can get as many points as we can. Hopefully we can find ourselves inside the top four and that means that we can really start to believe and kick on then.”