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Injury-hit Brentford looking to defy the odds against Postecoglou’s Spurs

January 30, 2024

Brentford are looking to make it consecutive wins in the Premier League for the first time since October as they go to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on Wednesday night.

Manager Thomas Frank was keen to build on their last result, where they beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 with talismanic striker Ivan Toney scoring on his long-awaited return.

Frank said: “When you haven’t won in five, and you’ve lost five, it’s always a little bit more important.

“Obviously, it was a big win for us in many ways, [I’m] very happy with that.”

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Thomas Frank with striker Ivan Toney after their 3-2 win against Forest

There is another reason for positivity in the Brentford camp, as captain Christian Norgaard is set to return after a short spell on the sidelines.

Injuries as well as AFCON and the Asia Cup mean that Brentford boss Thomas Frank is still without many of his first-team options, so the return of club captain Norgaard will be a huge boost for the Bees.

Brentford are still facing a selection issue on the left-side with Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey still out injured whilst new loan signing Sergio Reguilón is unable to feature against his parent club.

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Rico Henry suffers his season-ending injury against Newcastle in September

Last week, reports emerged of Brentford beating Tottenham to sign highly rated youngster: Antonio Nusa, but late complications with the deal mean that Frank isn’t ruling out some late business in January.

“If you’d like to get a winger for the summer, then maybe [it’s] an idea to look into that now if it is possible.

“We’ve been linked to a lot of players, so let’s see what will happen the next two days.”

Wednesday’s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium will be a happy return for Frank, as his side beat a beleagured Tottenham 3-1 there last season.

Much has changed for Spurs since then, with Frank being full of praise for the new manager in the rival dugout: Ange Postecoglou.

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Frank and Postecoglou before the 2023/24 season opener

Postecoglou’s Spurs debut actually came against Brentford in a 2-2 draw last August.

He said: “I think Ange has done a good job in Tottenham in many ways. I like the offensive approach; I like the all-or-nothing approach as well.

“I think [the approach] is brave and it needs to be brave to create big things.”

 

 

 

Author

  • Ed Dowling

    Ed is an Editor at the Sports Gazette. A much-maligned Tottenham fan, he mainly talks and writes about football in England and abroad. He is also a Senior Reporter for Nigeria's biggest sports radio station, Brila FM.