Brentford B will face IF Elfsborg on Thursday morning at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira. Kick-off will be at 11am.

The young Bees have been in Portugal for a week’s stay having played Icelandic side Breiðablik on Saturday 4 March before they round off their time in the Algarve with a match against the Swedish side.

Setting the scene

This is the side’s final match before their Premier League Cup quarter-final fixture with Arsenal Under-21s on Monday. The young Bees will be looking to bounce back from a tough test against Breiðablik last time out as the side from Iceland claimed a 2-0 win. The B team’s trip to Portugal has provided them with opportunities to further test themselves against first team opponents.

The opposition

IF Elfsborg compete in the top tier of Swedish football and their league campaign will get under way in early April in a season which runs until November before the play-off matches begin. Elfsborg last won the Allsvenskan in 2012 and finished runners up in 2020. Their 2022 campaign saw them finish sixth in the league table as they collected 49 points from their 30 fixtures. They are in the south of Portugal to face the young Bees whilst they also play against Breiðablik too.

Last time out

The B team faced Breiðablik at the Estádio Municipal de Albufeira on Saturday but they were beaten by the side from Iceland after they scored two second half goals. Take a look at the key moments from the match.

Tony Yogane’s thoughts

B team winger Tony Yogane is excited ahead of another test in Portugal and the 17-year-old feels that the tests against senior opposition have proved brilliant for his development. Ahead of the match with Elfsborg, he said: “I’ve enjoyed the week, I’ve enjoyed the training. We’ve done some small sided games where you have to get at players so it’s been good. We’re building up to tomorrow which is going to be another tough game.

“It will be a tough test, a physical battle with a lot of defending and working hard. It’s important that when we get the ball we have to be good on the counter-attack because it’s often like that against senior teams."

Tony Yogane in training with the young Bees in Portugal

In conversation with Sam Saunders

B team assistant coach Sam Saunders spoke at length about his development as a coach, the season so far, as well as some of the prospects within the group.

Match coverage

We will have updates during the game, as well as a full report and match highlights of the match in Albufeira. The match will not be played in front of spectators.