By Betsefy
Head coach Thomas Frank has insisted that Brentford‘s 5-1 defeat Newcastle United last weekend was “a freak result”.
The Bees made the trip to the North-East looking to build on their goalless draw at in-form Bournemouth in the previous match.
However, Brentford conceded five times for the first time since earning promotion to the Premier League, a run spanning 47 fixtures.
The London outfit had an early goal disallowed by VAR, while Ivan Toney‘s penalty early in the second half moved Brentford to 2-1 down with 36 minutes remaining.
Nevertheless, Frank watched on helplessly as Newcastle took advantage of numerous errors in the Bees backline to record an emphatic win at St James’ Park.
The first occurred in the first half when a poor pass from goalkeeper David Raya led to the Magpies doubling their advantage.
During the latter stages, Ethan Pinnock was at fault for the fourth and fifth goals, his opening error being an under-hit back-pass that led to Miguel Almiron rounding Raya and the second being an own goal.
© Reuters
Despite the capitulation, Frank has backed his players to respond against Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday evening, stating that the manner of the loss at Newcastle was a ‘once-in-a-century’ event.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Frank said: “I will be very disappointed if we don’t come flying out and try to be brave and aggressive.
“It was a freak game. We will never give away an own goal and two individual mistakes in the same game. There will be 100 years of Brentford history before that happens again.”
Frank also reiterated his support for goalkeeper Raya, suggesting that he has no intention of handing a Premier League debut to Thomas Strakosha.
The Dane added: “If you’re a keeper you get used to making mistakes or conceding. Hopefully [Spain boss] Luis Enrique is watching and that David has a good game.”
Although Brentford head into the contest on a three-game winless streak, they remain just four points adrift of their seventh-placed opponents in the Premier League table.
