Latest Team News

Christian Norgaard is not available for this game but everyone is ready from the last game. Christian had a minor setback in the Newcastle game. We will see in the next days or week when he will be available again; it was just too short for the Bournemouth game.

Tomorrow’s opponents

We respect Bournemouth a lot. They are one of the biggest favourites to get promoted this year. They are in a very good position and have experience and quality in the team. I expect it to be a big game between two teams who want to attack. We will go for the win and Bournemouth will go for the win. It will be a top test for where we are.

Bournemouth deserve a lot of praise; firstly after Eddie Howe stepped down and they decided to appoint Jason Tindall. I really like that approach from the Club, he has done a top job. They promoted the Assistant who knows the culture and the style of play. They have scored the most goals in the league and look solid defensively. It is basically a Premier League side we are facing tomorrow; it is a big challenge ahead of us. Dominic Solanke and David Brooks up top will be a big offensive challenge we need to prepare well for.

Staying in the moment

The players passed the first test, and the most important one, and that was the game after the Newcastle win and the Tottenham Hotspur draw. Cardiff City showed they had not had one thought on Tottenham in the semi-final; they had one focus and that was the Cardiff game. Now we are playing Bournemouth I have no doubt the players will be focussed. That has been one of our main principles the last two years that it is the next training, the next recovery, and the next game which we need to put 100 per cent focus in if we want to achieve anything.

Staying fresh

Before we started this run of games after the November international break, we knew we were likely to play 13-15 games in a row. We had a big discussion between me, my coaching staff, my Head of Medical, and my Head of Performance about how we attack this spell. We talked about how we could put the strongest team out there every game while also being aware of rotation and freshness. We know some players can be extremely robust and keep going while others we need to be more aware of. We will not win anything in December; it is in April and May when everything adds up and we have the final score. I have tried to put the strongest team out every time but with that freshness in mind.

Our January plans

I understand why some Premier League clubs will approach them because we have some very good players, but no players will leave us in January. That is not an option. They enjoy playing for Brentford and we are enjoying the journey. We are doing what we can to get the most out of it and, for what I know, none of the players want to leave and we don’t want to let any players go in January.

We have some players on loan, so we need to look into whether they stay out there, or we take them back. We are always aware of the market, but it is not like we have a big target in a specific position.

Keeping Covid secure

All of us involved in the Covid situation within the Club are doing a top job, trying to make this the most clinical place to be. We have had five or six cases since March and every time it has been one case, not an outbreak. We have done a good job, but it is something we need to be extremely aware of because we have seen a lot of Clubs shut down now, and a lot of games postponed. It is an area we need to be bang on.

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