Brentford 4 v 3 Ipswich Town FA Premier League Saturday, 26th October 2024 Kick-off 15:00 |
McKenna: Brentford Formidable at Home Thursday, 24th Oct 2024 18:35 Town boss Kieran McKenna knows Brentford are a “formidable” prospect at home this season as the Blues, still looking for their first win of the season, make their first ever visit to the Gtech Community Stadium. The Bees, who moved to their new home from Griffin Park in September 2020, are currently 13th in the Premier League, four places and six points ahead of the Blues. The West Londoners have picked up all 10 of their points on their own turf this season, three wins against the teams in the bottom three - a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, 3-1 against Southampton and 5-3 over Wolves - and a 1-1 draw with West Ham. Away from home, they have lost to Liverpool (2-0), Manchester City (2-1), Tottenham (3-1) and last week Manchester United (2-1). At home, the Bees’ 11 goals is the joint-highest total in the division alongside City and Spurs. Only Erling Haaland, 10, has scored more goals than Bryan Mbeumo’s six in the Premier League this season. “They're in really good home form, their last game at home in the Wolves game they had a lot of chances and scored five goals,” McKenna said. “They’re third in the league at the moment on home xG [expected goals] and how many chances they're creating at home. “At home, especially against teams in the bottom half of the division, which would perhaps be how they see us, they play in a really positive manner, put a lot of bodies in the box and try and score goals in lots of different ways. “They've evolved their style this year, I think that's fair to say. They're building a lot shorter from the goalkeeper, playing their way through the pitch, dropping more bodies down and committing more to build-up. “But they also have the qualities that they've had for quite a few years now in terms of crosses, putting lots of bodies in the box and being a big threat on set plays. “We know that they're a formidable team at home but it's another great chance for us to go and test ourselves, deliver our best performance and we believe if we can do that on any day then we can be competitive against almost any team.” Does he see the Bees, who are in their fourth season in the Premier League, as a blueprint for sides promoted from the Championship? “I think they've done fantastically well, there's no doubt about it,” he said. “They've got their own model, everyone's model is different but there's no doubt they've done a fantastic job as a club and [head coach] Thomas [Frank] has done a fantastic job as a manager and the coaching staff with him. “Different clubs have their own context, of course, there's things Brentford have done well that we can take some inspiration from, on the other hand their journey is different to ours. “The season before they got promoted they lost in the play-off final, they had a couple of years pushing at the very top of the Championship. By the time they arrived in the Premier League they probably pretty much had the Premier League team already set. “So they've had their own journey, our journey is very different to that with the speed of the ascent that we've made, but there's no doubt they've done some things very well and that any newly-promoted club can look at some of the things that they've done and see it as a good example.”
Following the visit to Brentford, Town welcome Leicester, another of last season’s promoted sides, to Portman Road. McKenna was asked whether the Blues focus on those games more than matches against more illustrious opposition. “No, we can't target it like that,” he said. “We know the scale of every game and every challenge, this is another big one. “It's a team who are well established now in the division, have a good home record, have started well at home and have scored a lot of goals. “We're giving it the full respect that it deserves, but at the same time every opponent that we've faced and will have faced we'll go into it with belief that we can get something from the game. This is another opportunity for to do that and it's one we look forward to.” With, on paper, tougher games at Spurs and at home to Manchester United following the matches against the Bees and the Foxes, McKenna was asked whether that increased the importance of getting points on Saturday. “We're not looking at anything past Brentford, to be honest,” he said. “The games are quite spread out, the Man United game is another international break and a month or so away, so it's one game a week at the moment and we're not looking any further past this one. “We know we're going to have to deliver a really good performance to give us the chance to get anything from the game, so that's where all our focus needs to be. “We can't afford to have any distraction or eye on anything else other than the game ahead and performing as well as we can. It's full eyes on Brentford, we'll give everything for the performance and then we'll do the same again for Leicester.”
The Northern Irishman was flattered by comparisons between himself and Brentford manager Frank, 51, the Dane having been in his job since 2018 following a three-year spell in charge at Brøndby in his home country. “I’ll take it as a compliment because I think he’s a very good manager and a very nice man when I’ve met him before,” he said. “I think he’s got much better hair than me, so I’ll have to look across and envy on that side of it. “I don’t know the ins and outs of how he works very well, but I think he’s done a fantastic job with Brentford and over the last few years he’s shown his qualities as a manager and from everything I know and one of my good friends is his assistant [Claus Nørgaard], a very good man, which I think takes you a long way in life. “He’s done a fantastic job. I didn’t know him before [he was at Brentford], but it’s clear from the job that he did in the Championship and the way that he’s established them in the Premier League is very, very difficult to do, so he’s clearly a top manager. “They’ve evolved again over the course of this season and he’s done a terrific job. I’ve seen him say before, so I don’t think it’s any secret, there’s some really good things at Brentford from a cultural point of view, they have some big advantages in the market from a data point of view that has been a big part of their success as well. “But at the same time, even in an organisation like that, you need a very, very good coach to be as competitive as they have been and he’s clearly that and I know he’s got a very good staff as well. They’ve done a good job but we’ve got to find a way to beat them this weekend.” The Bees have become infamous for their goals straight from the kick-off this season, having netted in the opening seconds at Manchester City and Tottenham, and at home to West Ham in successive matches. They also scored in the second minute against Wolves. Quizzed on whether he had a special plan for Brentford kick-offs, McKenna laughed: “Yes, and so probably has everyone who has played them in the last five or six games! “I have to say, their starts to games have been fantastic, it’s not just kick-offs from the start of the game. “When you analyse it and go through it, their kick-offs when they’ve conceded goals have been very good. Their kick-offs at the start of the second half have been very, very good, so I don’t think it’s just about kick-offs, they’re a team that can really get wired into high intensity moments where they really put you under pressure in your box with first and second balls and cross after cross and put bodies in the box and in an unexpected manner. “In the second minute against Wolves, Nathan Collins runs into the box from right centre-back and ends up heading one in in free play, so I think it’s more about being ready for the moments of the game where they put real pressure on the opponent and they try and dominate you with second balls and deliveries into your box and standing up to those. “We know that the start of the game and any restarts can be those but we also know there will be other periods like that during the game and we’ve got to stand up to those the best that we can.”
The Town boss admits he’d like to have been able to field a more consistent side with injuries having meant plenty of changes at the back just as the Tuanzebe-O’Shea-Greaves-Davis defence ahead of Aro Muric was starting to bed in. “We'd love to have that, but we've had a couple of big injuries to some of our key defenders and we have some more challenges going into this weekend,” he continued. “Aro missed the first game, a certain backline played, other defenders arrived late as a couple of defenders were getting into really good form and had injuries. “That's the challenge, you're going to have these challenges over the course of the season. “We seem to be in a period now where we're going through that. In quite a few positions we want to build consistency and build relationships. “There's a lot of things that come into that, availability is one and that's the challenge at the moment, but that's a period where we have to stay really strong as a group and come out of the other side as strong as possible. “I know there'll be other phases in the season where we manage to keep the same group of players available and we can be more consistent in our selection, so this is just a phase that we're in, they tend to come every season and it's up to us to show collective strength in this phase.” The TeamMcKenna said at his press conference there are unnamed players who will be assessed ahead of the game, as well as midfielder Jens Cajuste, who has been sidelined with a minor knee problem. Axel Tuanzebe (hand), Massimo Luongo (ankle), Ben Johnson (thigh) and Jacob Greaves (hamstring) remain sidelined. Assuming everyone who is facing assessment makes it, McKenna may well stick largely to the team which lost to Everton with options limited by those injury problems. Muric is likely to continue in goal with Dara O’Shea at right-back, Leif Davis, fresh from signing his new contract, on the left and Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess in the centre. Skipper Sam Morsy, still on four bookings with a fifth leading to a suspension, is again likely to be partnered by Kalvin Phillips but with Jack Taylor having continued to impress after coming off the bench. McKenna may look to make changes ahead of the double pivot with Chiedozie Ogbene perhaps returning to the XI against his old club on the right for Wes Burns and Sammie Szmodics and Nathan Broadhead alternatives to Jack Clarke on the left. Liam Delap, Town’s top scorer with four goals will continue as the lone striker. HistoryHistorically, Town have won seven of the games between the teams (three in the league), the Bees five (five) with six (six) ending in draws. Saturday’s match is the first top-flight meeting between the teams, the 937th unique Premier League fixture and the 1,452nd unique top-flight match. Town have won only one of their last nine games against the Bees, a 2-0 victory at Portman Road in August 2017. The teams most recently met at Griffin Park in April 2019 with the Blues on their way to relegation from the Championship. First-half goals from Neal Maupay and Ollie Watkins saw Brentford to a comfortable 2-0 victory. Maupay slammed home the opener in the 20th minute, moments after Collin Quaner had hit the post for the Blues when through on goal, then Watkins netted the second eight minutes later after the Bees made the most of a Flynn Downes error. In the previous September at Portman Road, Kayden Jackson nodded his first Championship goal as the Blues held then-second-placed Brentford to a 1-1 draw. Maupay gave the Bees a deserved 31st minute lead in a first half the visitors dominated but Town were much better after the break as they came back to claim their fourth home draw of the campaign with Jackson heading the equaliser on 73. Familiar FacesBlues winger Ogbene joined Brentford in January 2018 following a trial, having also spent time on trial at Town earlier the same month along with Limerick teammate Barry Cotter, who did win a deal at Portman Road. Irish international Ogbene went on to make nine sub appearances for the Bees before departing for Rotherham in the summer of 2019 having spent the previous campaign on loan at Exeter. OfficialsSaturday’s referee is Lewis Smith, while his assistants are Scott Ledger and Mat Wilkes, and the fourth official: Rob Jones. The VAR official is Peter Bankes and his assistant Neil Davies. Wigan-based Smith has shown 47 yellow cards and two red in 13 games so far this season. Smith has already taken charge of the Blues this season, in the 1-1 home draw with Fulham in which he booked Morsy, Ali Al-Hamadi and three Cottagers. Coincidentally, Smith also refereed the previous meeting between the Blues and Whites, the Carabao Cup tie last season, in which he booked Marcus Harness, Jack Taylor and three of the visitors. That game was the the first time Smith had refereed a top flight club with his Premier League debut Fulham’s home game against Aston Villa in February. Smith’s only previous Town match prior to last season’s meeting with the Cottagers was the second-round Carabao Cup tie at Reading a couple of months earlier, which the Blues won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. George Edmundson, Lee Evans, Cameron Humphreys and two home players were cautioned during that fixture. Squad FromMuric, Walton, Gray, Davis, Townsend, O’Shea, H Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Phillips, Morsy (c), Taylor, Cajuste, Hutchinson, Chaplin, Szmodics, J Clarke, Broadhead, Burns, Ogbene, Delap, Hirst, Al-Hamadi.
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