Zain Westbrooke wants the Youth Team to re-find their top form as they enter the Under-18 Professional Development League Two Play-Offs later this month.
Despite being unbeaten in their last ten matches, winning eight of them, Zain feels that standards have just slipped in recent weeks and he is keen that is changed before the Play-Offs at the end of the month.
The Bees qualified for the end of season showdown the best part of a month ago but Zain feels it would be frustrating if they let top spot, and a home Semi-Final, slip by failing to beat Sheffield Wednesday this coming Saturday.
Speaking to Bees Player ahead of Saturday’s clash, Zain said it was good to have secured a Play-Off berth early in the season but believes his team have to switch back on quickly ahead the end of season competition.
“It would be frustrating because we have worked really hard to be top of the league,” said Zain.
“To finish second on what might be goal difference would be quite frustrating but we have made the Play-Offs.
“We made it comfortable for ourselves by making the Play-Offs early and we are just looking forward to playing the two games in the stadium.
“It helped the second-years out a lot to get into the Play-Offs early because it meant that we could push on and progress by playing with the Under-21s.
“Knowing, in matches, that we don’t have as much to do meant that we have slowed down a bit and we haven’t been pushing on and trying to score as much in recent weeks.
“Last week’s draw was a kick up the backside because we know we can’t take it easy as the teams aren’t bad, we have just been playing really well.
“We need to step up another level and go back to where we were.”
Charlton Athletic are the only side who can deny Brentford top spot as The Addicks chase a hat-trick of Under-18 Professional Development League Two South crowns.
The Addicks are six points behind The Bees with two games in hand but goal difference would favour the South London side should it come down to that.
Aside from the frustration of seeing the title slip from their grasp finishing second would also see Brentford play their Semi-Final away from home rather than at Griffin Park.
Zain concedes that playing away from home may make things more difficult but he feels The Bees' cup experience, both good and bad, will stand them in good stead whoever they face, wherever they play.
“Finishing second and playing the Play-Off away could make things more difficult but we would look at it positively and say it is a good day out and that it won’t be as comfortable,” said Zain.
“We would like to play at Griffin Park and feel comfortable.
“We feel we can do a job at home.
“Every team is going to be confident if they have made the Play-Offs but we will definitely be up there with the most confident.
“It can be difficult to go from league to cup but you need to adapt to it quickly.
“It is a Semi-Final and Final so it doesn’t last very long.
“We need to adapt and know what we are dealing with quite early.
“Things like the IMG Cup and the Milk Cup will definitely help us.
“If we can recall how we prepared for those games we will do well.
“Knowing what it feels like to lose out in big matches, like the FA Youth Cup, could help us even more and we know we have to go out there and win.”
In the build-up to Saturday’s match against The Owls a number of the senior Youth Team players have been training and playing with Lee Carsley’s Under-21 squad.
Zain has been one of them, scoring against Cardiff City in March and featuring in the defeat to Leeds United.
The 18-year-old said he can see an increase in the intensity in Youth Team training as players return from working with Lee and the Development Squad and that can only benefit the team going into the final stages of the season.
“The build-up has been good,” said Zain.
“A lot of us have been playing with the Under-21s and the Under-18s training has been going well as a lot of the younger boys have been training with us and playing in matches.
“It wasn’t the ideal result last weekend but we are looking to push on now.
“We have a strong team for this weekend, we have got some good youngsters and I think that we can do well.
“Training with the Under-21s has given us a lot of confidence training at a higher standard with more physicality where the game is a little faster.
“When you come down you bring the Youth Team level up more because they want to play with the to the level that we are playing at and that can only help us.
“When you go down the Under-18s isn’t easy, it is still a good level, but you feel that you can bring more to the training sessions.
“You can lift tempo and give other players’ confidence and people respect you a bit more because you have been playing up.”
Brentford travel to Sheffield this weekend for their final league match of the season looking to maintain their excellent record against sides from the northern half of the Under-18 PDL Two.
The Under-18 league sees teams from the South play each other home and away while they play the nine northern sides either home or away and Jon De Souza’s side have only been beaten once this season by a side from the North.
Ahead of Saturday’s match Zain said that The Bees will continue to focus on how they want to play and look to impose their attacking style on the match.
The 18-year-old admits that the Northern sides do pose a different challenge but he is confident The Bees can rise to that challenge once again.
“We don’t tend to look much at other teams,” said Zain.
“We look at what we do and want to play good football, create chances, and score.
“We know that we have the capability to beat Sheffield Wednesday quite comfortably and we have to go there and play well.
“It was frustrating not to beat Sheffield United last time out.
“When the Under-15 got sent off it changed the game but I thought the performance was good and we just need to create more chances and get the goals we deserve.
“If we hold onto the ball a bit longer we can create more.
“We have a lot of creative players who want to score and hopefully we can put in a good performance and get some goals this weekend.
“The Northern sides are a bit more direct than the Southern sides.
“They like to get the ball forward and then start playing.
“They are just as good as the Southern teams but the Southern teams want to play out from the back a bit more.
“They don’t want to risk it as much which helps them because it stops us pressing.
“We like to press high and that stops our pressing game.
“They are as good as the Southern teams and, if anything, a more difficult test for us.
“We have to adapt and be smart during the game.
“We need to know when to press and when to sit off.
“We need to change our game and it can be harder with younger players because you need to communicate a lot but that will be a good test for us.”