“Impossible” to prepare for St. James’ Park atmosphere, says Thomas Frank ahead of quarter-final clash
Thomas Frank believes it is “impossible” to prepare for the atmosphere Brentford will face at St. James’ Park, but remains confident that his side can emerge victorious from their key Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Newcastle United.
The Bees continue their quest for a first major trophy in the club’s history when they travel to the North East on Wednesday night. It is a huge game for both teams, but the clamour for a trophy on Tyneside is enormous, with Newcastle last having won a domestic trophy in 1955.
Brentford knocked Newcastle out at the same stage of this competition in 2020/21, although they were at home on that occasion. The two teams meet for the second time in two weeks, with Brentford defeating Eddie Howe’s side 4-2 at the Gtech Community Stadium in the league.
Frank aware of Geordies’ longing for success
The Magpies followed that loss to Brentford with a 4-0 home win over Leicester, but have struggled to find consistency in their performances all season. However, Thomas Frank expects a tough challenge and is aware of the desire his opponents have to win silverware.
“We will face a team that will come flying out. Late kick-off, under the floodlights, home at St. James Park, they can go to a semi-final, I’m very aware that they haven’t won anything in I don’t know how long. So of course they will do everything they can to get a title.”
“They’ve been very close the last couple of years, I think they’ve got the team to win something. They will take no prisoners, they will go after us, but we are ready for the challenge.”
When asked how to prepare his players for the type of atmosphere they will encounter at St. James’ Park, he laughed: “That’s impossible.”
“Of course we have players that have (played in) great atmospheres before, I think all of them more or less have played at St. James’ Park so experienced the good atmosphere there.”
Brentford have struggled on the road this season, failing to record an away win in the league this season, although they did win at Colchester United in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
They narrowly lost 2-1 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their most recent game, but Frank believes his team is up for the challenge.
“We are facing a good team, (at) one of the toughest away grounds, so it will be tough. But we’ve done it before, we’ve played away and won before, so we believe we can do that tomorrow.”
“We really want to progress to the next round. And we’ve got a good opportunity.”
Authorities ‘not willing to help’ ease congestion
The Brentford manager bemoaned the fixture congestion in the busy run up to Christmas, and what he perceived as a lack of willingness to help from the football authorities.
Brentford’s game at Chelsea kicked off at 7pm on Sunday, and they play three games in seven days, with their trip to Newcastle followed by a home game against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
“We and Crystal Palace are the only two teams of the eight teams (left in the cup) that are playing three games in seven days”, he said. “All the other six clubs, which funnily enough are also the bigger clubs, they are playing them in eight or nine days, maybe it’s a coincidence I don’t know.”
Frank revealed that the club asked if their game against Forest could be moved, but the request was declined.
“They’re not willing to help in a short turnaround, but it is what it is. Tomorrow, we will be absolutely on it, no problem.”
Bees buzzing in attack
As the Bees showed in their recent win over Newcastle, they have plenty of firepower going forward, and have scored the 3rd-most goals in the league this season.
Despite the loss of Ivan Toney last summer, Brentford’s options going forward are arguably better than ever. Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Kevin Schade and others give Frank plenty of threatening options.
“It’s a big positive. I’m very pleased about it in a number of ways, because I think to be able to have players that can create and score goals is key for any team that wants to achieve something.”
“But we need options, we need more than just three or four players starting, we also need options off the bench if players are not performing or they’re starting to tire a little bit and in a three-game week like this we’re going to need everyone.”
Club-record signing Igor Thiago will undergo a fitness assessment prior to kick-off, but has trained after suffering a knock prior to the Chelsea game. There are no other new injuries for Brentford, with Rico Henry continuing to work his way back from a long-term knee injury.
For Newcastle, starting goalkeeper Nick Pope will be missing having suffered a knee injury, and Callum Wilson has also had yet another injury setback. Sven Botman appeared for the under-21s this week, but is unlikely to return to first-team action for a bit longer.
The stakes are high for two clubs desperate to taste silverware. Can Newcastle find some consistency, or will Brentford find some away form? The winner will advance to the semi-finals and get one step closer to glory.
