It’s been another season of progression for B team midfield player Roy Syla. Now 22, he’s been a key member of Neil MacFarlane’s side over the course of the season as they’ve claimed many impressive results.

A player with a bit more experience in a group which has seen even younger players added to it over the past year, Roy initially joined Brentford in the summer of 2021 after departing the youth set up at Barnet.

In his debut campaign he played 26 times for the B team. This season he has become an integral part of the squad as a number six, and the first part of the campaign saw him clock up regular game time in defensive midfield as he led by example. As he started to hit the best form of his career, helping the side to wins in the Premier League Cup over Aston Villa and Peterborough United, sadly, an injury against Blackburn Rovers halted his progress and the youngster had to go through around 10 weeks of rehabilitation from a knee injury.

Now back fit and featuring for Brentford B, Roy is back to his best and is aiming for a positive end to the campaign.

“This season I’ve played so much more than last season. I came in from Barnet and I was in a mindset where I was happy to be here,” explained Roy who cuts a motivated and determined figure aiming to forge his career in the game. “To come from a non-league environment to a Premier League one was a big jump and I think perhaps I could have pushed myself and had the mindset that I deserve to be here.

“I think I needed that year to adapt and now I feel so much more experienced. I know what the coaches expect from me, and I can feel the trust they have in me, and they want me to express myself on the pitch. Last season was good; I got an international call-up (with Albania Under-21s) and ended the season well.”

Roy Syla in training with the young Bees

Roy initially departed the club in the summer before the decision was made to return for a further season in October. After returning and impressing the midfielder was then dealt a blow with the injury in November.

“Everyone was shocked. I carried on playing during the Blackburn game and when I got hit I thought it was nothing,” said Roy. “That game was on the Saturday, and I expected to come in and train on the Monday. I was jumping around in my room and felt completely fine. I came in and the medical team were a little bit worried because there was some swelling. After the scan I was told it was a high grade LCL (lateral collateral ligament) injury and I was completely shocked.

“Everyone was really gutted for me, and I had lots of nice messages because I’d fit in so well with everyone because half the team was new compared to last season. The team then went to Holland that week, so I missed that tour which was frustrating. I missed some good experiences like the Monaco trip and QPR’s first team before coming back and playing the last game in the Atlantic Cup. There were so many good games, so it was hard for me, particularly because I’d been doing so well before I got injured. I was in the best form I’ve ever been in, and I’ve started to see my performances get back to where they were. I needed those games in Portugal to get back to match sharpness.”

So, what got Roy into the form of his career before the injury? The former Barnet man says the opportunity to work with the coaching staff and get significant minutes on the grass working on his game has put him in a fantastic position.

He continued: “You do your training with Neil, Saunds (Sam Saunders) and Purds (James Purdue) and they demand a lot from you. It’s then about staying out on the pitch with Steven (Pressley) every day and working on individual elements. I’m using the staff a lot more than I did last year and that’s what’s got me to where I am. I am closer with them, I know what they want and expect and it makes you feel better. The only positive thing about my injury is that it has helped me physically because of the gym work that I did. I thought I was well built anyway but I’ve seen even better progression which is helping me a lot. I feel stronger and sharper.

“Since I started playing football Neil has had the biggest impact on my career. He’s always liked me as a player and trusted me because he knows I will work hard for him and he will help me in and out of football. He’s improved me as a player and as a person. We all know that football can be brutal, and we don’t know what will happen next year but he will always look out for me which means a lot.”

As a defensive midfielder in the modern game, the role is predominantly to protect the defence, win the ball and give it to those players who can make things happen in the final third. It’s clear that Roy has an understanding of his role and now at 22 the experiences he’s had in recent years have been excellent for his development.

He explained: “For me to impact a game I need to win my battles in midfield. If I do that then everyone can shine from that. If I look to get on the ball it’s then on me to try to play out of a situation to allow us to break forward. If I win tackles then I can play out quickly to the faster players like Trev (Ryan Trevitt) or Michael (Olakigbe.) It’s about commanding the pitch and dictating things. You have to brave and it comes with experience. Not everything will be perfect and you can make mistakes but it’s then about continuing to get on the ball and playing quickly.

Roy featured against Ukraine in March this year at the Cherry Red Records Stadium

“The biggest thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here is the ability to scan the pitch. I’d be able to scan where the opponents were but I wasn’t able to scan where my next pass was. It comes with experience and hours on the training pitch. The amount of analysis we do here shows you those moments that you need to improve on. I watch games back from the past and I notice it straight away.”

Roy is well aware of the brutality of football. Making the step from youth football into the men’s game is arguably the toughest one to take. It’s competitive and there are players alongside you who are all competing to get into that first team group. That’s when, as Roy is demonstrating, you have to look to do those minimal things to make those marginal gains.

“We’re all out on the training pitch together so we progress at the same level,” said the midfielder. “If you want to get ahead and keep on improving further then you have to do the little things, the extras. I’ll go and speak to Faz (Farahan Shabbir, B team analyst), go and speak to Steven, to Neil and Saunds about how I’ve played. We have Jane (McClements, B team nutritionist) this season so I’m keeping up with what supplements I need to take and why. I’ll take five supplements a day which is something I never used to do but I’m starting to see that slowly all these things are making an impact on me.

“I want to get as many minutes as possible. Anything can happen in football, and I could have the best two months of my career here and I could impress someone here or perhaps somewhere else. These two months are crucial for my career, and I don’t say that to put pressure on myself because I know it’s the reality of football and it has to be like that. I feel I play better with the demands on me because it’s the type of person I am. If you want to be a footballer at the top level, then it’s something you have to deal with.”

Of course, a lot of the learning takes place on the pitch through hours of practice. It also comes from studying and watching players in a similar position to you. For Roy, Christian Nørgaard is the perfect example for who he wants to model his game on and when training with the first team the aim is to continue to show what he can do and impress.

He explained: “We play so similar as a deep number six who wins the ball and plays it. He (Christian) is not a flashy player, but he does such a good job for the team. He has such an impact, he’s tidy, composed, and he does the hard work. Every team needs someone like that and he’s a player I try to learn from. He understands the game really well, he may not be the fastest player, but he reads the game and he knows where the ball will be before it’s there.

Roy takes inspiration from first team midfielder Christian Norgaard

“Stepping into first team training you find everyone very welcoming. They have very high expectations, and you go over for a reason. They make you play better and you have to be switched on at every moment.

“Perhaps I’m playing against Frank (Onyeka) in midfield, you haven’t got time to take that extra touch because he’s straight into you. During the international break I got to spend some time with them, and you can’t wait to go in and show what you can do. Players then begin to recognise you more; they understand you more as a player and what type of person you are. To see that you can train with them and handle yourself gives you so much confidence.”