Brentford B head coach Neil MacFarlane was left with plenty of positives to take on Wednesday night after seeing his side come from behind to draw 2-2 with a talented AS Monaco U21 side.

The young Bees found themselves 2-0 behind but showed spirit and character to battle back to draw the game through Michael Olakigbe and Charlie Farr late on.

Reacting to the result, MacFarlane said: “I thought it was an outstanding game of football between two really, really good sides. We’ve had some terrific encounters over in Monaco twice when we've played them.

“They obviously came here tonight where we welcomed them and it was another stern test. I thought we played some terrific football, found ourselves behind in the game by two goals and then showed unbelievable spirit and quality to get ourselves back and get a richly deserved draw in the end."

On Olakigbe’s goal, his second of the season for the B team having also scored in the Premier League Cup against Fulham last month, MacFarlane says it was good to see the youngster work some space before finishing well to help the side back into the match.

He explained: “I’m really pleased because he's (Michael) getting into that position on the last line and then showed the composure to slot it away and brought us back into the game. I thought we were really on the front foot towards the end and kept going and that's what I loved about the group tonight, they just kept going right to the 95th minute. We pushed ourselves with 70-yard runs to get across to make the box and make it difficult for the defenders and obviously it turned into the net.”

The young Bees were also boosted by first team player involvement as Charlie Goode stepped up his return from injury whilst the likes of Ellery Balcombe, Ivan Toney and Ben Mee also got minutes with the side against Monaco.

On the first team players setting the tone and the opportunity for his youngsters to learn a thing or two, MacFarlane feels the senior players helped the B team players a great deal.

“That's what the project is, ever since I've been here, supplementing our first team when required and making sure that they get the appropriate minutes but also making sure that the games have the right level and they always have been in the B team,” said MacFarlane.

Ben Mee featured for the young Bees at Wheatsheaf Park

“Tonight was an unbelievable, high tempo match, and the first team players that dropped down, from the moment they set foot here tonight in the dressing room and the warm up and then on the pitch, I can't speak highly enough of them.

“(For our players) to see how first team players prepare, seeing what they do when they fall behind. Learning from the experience, whether it's Ji-soo beside Charlie and Ben, that's outstanding or whether it's higher up the pitch with Nathan playing beside Ivan, that's exactly what we want for the development and then more importantly as well gets minutes into the lads just coming back to play.”

Another good story for the B team in recent days saw Yehor Yarmoliuk get his first taste of Premier League action in the 3-0 win over Burnley. The Ukrainian, who was promoted to Thomas Frank’s side in the summer of 2023, was able to get minutes against Monaco after making his bow in the top tier of English football a few days ago.

Added to that, Olakigbe was also able to get game time at the Gtech Community Stadium and MacFarlane believes it represents the fantastic work put in by the players, as well as the B team set up.

He explained: “Everything that we do here as a staff, and the staff deserve enormous credit. It's for these young players and to see what we saw on Saturday, an outstanding performance from the first team against Burnley, but to see Mads Roerslev who was obviously part of the B team and then Yehor coming on for his debut and getting 25 minutes and doing exceptionally well, and then Michael getting on towards the end was an amazing day for the B team.

Yehor Yarmoliuk made his Premier League debut against Burnley recently

“That's what we get up for every single morning with that drive and determination to make them better and prepare them for that. It’s now about staying humble. Thomas (Frank) trusted them to put them on the pitch and they delivered as well which is really, really good.

"It’s important that you make an impact when you go with the first team and that's what they try to do. Every single day the way we prepare these players at the training ground is to make sure, firstly, when they step up to the training they can supplement that and then when called upon for the first team go on and do well like they did on Saturday.

"The next stage is keeping that consistency to their game. That's up to us as a coaching staff to never stop and to drive them another level."

Michael Olakigbe followed up his cameo against Burnley with a goal against Monaco

The match with Monaco saw the young Bees play at Wheatsheaf Park for the first time ahead of the first match in front of supporters against RC Strasbourg on 31 October. MacFarlane says he and his players are delighted with the venue and it will only help to drive the project on.

He continued: “It’s amazing. There's always been something different every single year I've been involved with the B team and this is this is no different and better in many respects. This is a terrific base for us.

"For every person at the club and for everybody who has been working tirelessly to put on tonight to get it up and running, a huge, huge thanks goes to them.

“This is a brilliant area to come and watch football and if you get a game like tonight, they'll (supporters) thoroughly enjoy it and the run of fixtures that are coming up both with Strasbourg next week and then the Premier League Cup games that are to come.

"It's going to be a really fruitful period in terms of fixtures and as I said if the boys can perform the way they did tonight, they’ll put on a show.”