Youth Team midfielder Zain Westbrooke believes that the confidence is high within the Youth Team after a seventh win in eight games.
Cardiff City were the latest side to be beaten in the Under-18 PDL Two South as Herson Rodrigues Alves netted a double with a Rhys Abrizze own goal and Jeremiah Kamanzi’s strike completing the scoring.
The result stretched Brentford’s unbeaten run to eight matches, with seven of those resulting in victories.
Speaking to Bees Player after the win Zain said there is a great confidence in the camp and the team are really enjoying their football.
“There is a good mood in the dressing room,” said Zain.
“It wasn’t our best performance today but I think the pitch and the conditions played a part in that.
“It is a confident dressing room and we really feel like we can push on.
“We have been playing some really good slick passing football recently but today the pitch didn’t allow that.
“We had to adapt and change the way we play to not take as many risks at the back as usual.
“It took us a while to get used to that but when we did you could see that we started to have fun.
“Everybody knows how we are playing now.
“Everyone wants to get on the ball and it is easier to find space because you know that you are going to get on the ball eventually.
“It feels a settled side this year.
“It is harsh on some of the boys because they are doing well in training but the team is doing well at the moment.
“We are firing on all cylinders and we want to keep doing well.
“This year everybody is training hard and working hard.
“That just pushes everybody on to want to train better and do better.”
Saturday’s match was played on a hard bobbly pitch that made it difficult for The Bees to play their normal passing game.
The Bees fell behind early on as Audrius Laucys’ mishit back-pass was picked off by Ellis Bellamy and he poked home.
It took until the 40th minute for Brentford to equalise but once they did that they never looked back.
Zain said he and his teammates knew it would be a difficult pitch from the warm-up and that it was important they got an equaliser before half-time.
“We knew in the warm-up that it would be difficult but we felt that we are good enough to keep doing what we have been doing,” said Zain.
“There were a lot of risks, especially playing out from the back, so we knew we had to play a little bit different.
“It was important to get the goal before half-time because we felt that we dominated the first-half. “We felt that if we did get one back before half-time we would come out in the second-half and get some more.
“We came out in the second-half and we didn’t need to fight back.
“We were on level terms again and we could just do our stuff.
“Our downfall is probably that we don’t put enough goals past teams.
“In the last three games we have played some really good football and created lots of chances but we haven’t won by five, six or seven which we could have in each game.
“We are winning and we are playing really well but we all feel that there is more there to give.
“We can get more goals, we can create more chances and we can concede less than we have.”
Victory on Saturday all-but confirmed a place in the top two of the Under-18 Professional Development League Two South with three games to play.
Having let a 2-0 lead slip away at Hull City in the FA Youth Cup Third Round back in December Zain believes that making and winning the end of season play-offs would make up for that cup disappointment.
“It is more about performances that results but we know that if we could get in the play-offs it would be two big games in a stadium with people watching and that is what we want,” said Zain.
“We wanted to do well in the FA Youth Cup this season and we felt that we should have gone further.
“Getting in the play-offs in a stadium would be just like that and it is what we want to do.
“Everyone wants to do well and win the league because we missed out in the FA Youth Cup.”
With Zain approaching the end of his two year scholarship he knows that important decisions over his future will be taken in the coming weeks and months.
The 18-year-old midfielder thinks that Brentford have been the best team in the league this year and that can only help players get their contracts.
For Zain the fact that the team is doing so well means there is more interest in him and the rest of the team and that can only help the long-term ambitions of the whole squad.
“I think we are the best team in the league this year,” said Zain.
“We want to beat teams but we also want them to come off the pitch thinking that we are top of the league for a reason.
“Most of the teams that we have played this season could probably say that.
“Now we are getting both results and performances and you can see the development in all of the players is coming along well.
“Contract decisions will always be on our mind because it is a big time in our careers.
“We just have to keep our minds on playing.
“It is good because it is enjoyable to play at the moment.
“If we weren’t playing as well the stress level might be a bit higher but at the moment it is nice to be playing.
“More people want to watch us and see how well we are doing because we are at the top of the league.
“We want to play that bit better because we know people are coming down to watch us.
“We are top of the league and people hear our names and want to come down and watch us.
“That just spurs us on even more.”