Before Brentford played Southampton, Mathias Jensen and I were chatting about his good form this season.

But one thing seemed to be bothering him, despite currently playing some of the best football of his career.

“I need to get into more dangerous areas because I think that’s been the problem in recent years,” he said.

“I haven’t been in enough good positions to score goals - I need to get into the box more.

“I’m often part of the build-up, but then I’ll sometimes just watch someone else finish it off instead of going and seeing if the ball will drop for me.”

Less than a week later, the Dane found himself inside the penalty area, heading home Rico Henry’s cross to make it 3-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium.

10 seconds before he put the ball in the back of the net, Jensen, 45 yards from goal, scanned his surroundings and commanded Mads Roerslev to cover the space behind him.

By the time Kevin Schade had dribbled towards the byline, Jensen was one of four Bees players inside the box – but it was the midfielder who reacted quickest, darting into space before Henry had even crossed the ball.

This time, he was the player on the end of the cross, rather than the one supplying it.

“The rhythm I’ve got at the moment gives me the confidence to take more risks,” Jensen begins, sat across from me at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre.

“If things I try succeed and look good, or they fail, when you're in that rhythm and you have big trust from the gaffer, you don't think too much about mistakes. You're more confident and try and do the difficult things.

“The numbers - my goals and assists - are already better than last season.

“That was my aim after last season because I started it injured, then the team did well, and I never really got into a rhythm until maybe the last five or six games.

“When I finally found that rhythm the season was over.”

After being one of the Bees’ key players during the 2020/21 promotion-winning campaign - registering seven assists, scoring two goals and missing just one league game - it was a difficult first season in the top flight for the Danish midfielder.

Before the campaign had started, he was withdrawn in extra-time during Denmark’s Euro 2020 semi-final defeat to England, which saw him miss the first two games of the Bees’ maiden Premier League season, before Covid-19 ruled him out of more games in November.

He only played 90 minutes once between then and the start of February so, when the former Celta Vigo man frequently talks about ‘rhythm’ and how he struggled to develop any last term, it’s clear to see why.

Jensen says he “doesn’t feel like a different player” this season but admits that “maybe some things have just worked out better”, which has seen him reinstate himself as one of the club’s key players.

So far this season, the Dane has four assists and nine goal-creating actions (the two offensive actions directly leading to a goal, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls) - the most of any Brentford player across the two stat categories.

The midfielder earned himself a new long-term contract with the club earlier this year, with Thomas Frank stating: “He has been one of our best players so far this season.”

Jensen continues with a smile: “I feel like I have such big trust from Thomas. It means I think less about mistakes when I make them; I just focus on the next thing.

“The big difference is, last season, I felt like I was going to get subbed off after 60 or 70 minutes and, while that should be enough time to show what I’m capable of, I was maybe thinking a bit too much about it or I was too aware of it.

“I would feel like I had to do something special within that first 60 minutes.

“Sometimes, of course, I get subbed off before the 90 minutes this season but, a lot of the time, I’ll play the full game and that just gives me a bit more time to show what I'm capable of.”

It is humble of Jensen to, again, cite rhythm as the reason for his upturn in form this season, but it soon becomes clear that it’s more than just that. A lot of hard work has gone into him now being one of the first names on the team sheet.

“I really pushed before pre-season started when I was at home, doing my own bits, and then obviously in pre-season as well,” he says.

“That paid off because I felt it just gave me that sharpness and readiness for the new season.

"It was the first time I had hired my own personal coach. That really, really paid off. I felt a big difference when I started back here.

“It was usually one or two hours more every day or every other day back in Denmark.

“It was very nice to see that even though you have to work harder and train more in your holidays, it does pay off and you feel much better for the next year.”

Improving his numbers in front of goal was also something Jensen was keen to do and, while he always demands more from himself, it’s another thing that has clearly paid dividends.

The Denmark international has had four shots on target this season and scored three times, with the goal-bound effort that didn’t hit the back of the net kept out smartly by World Cup winner and Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez.

But, interestingly, Jensen's clinical edge in front of goal hasn’t necessarily been down to specific work on his finishing.

“What I've been focusing on more is what comes just before the finish - whether that be the touch or getting into the right position,” he reveals.

“It's more about getting into the right position or, when I do get into the right position, taking the perfect touch to set myself.

“For my goal against Bournemouth, it was the perfect touch to set myself for the finish with the second touch.

“That had been a problem during my time at Brentford - it was often what happened just before the finish that didn't work out.

“But I’ve worked on getting into the positions and being very aware of that first touch.”

Jensen's creative numbers have also improved, helped by the continued development of his set-piece delivery - he is fourth for dead-ball passes that have led to a shot attempt (29).

Jensen's relationship with tactical statistician Bernardo Cueva, who works on attacking set-pieces with the Brentford squad, has helped maximize these opportunities and made the Bees one of the division’s most dangerous sides from dead-ball situations

On his bond with Cueva, he says: "We speak quite often. I evaluate things with him after every game.

"Every now and then he'll also ask me about what I think we should do in specific situations, because he has a lot of ideas, but he also wants the players on the pitch to feel comfortable doing what he's thinking about.

“Often, if there's been a game on TV where they’ve done a different set-piece variation, it’ll be the first thing we chat about in the morning.

“Nowadays, set-pieces are a massive part of the game and it's become popular to do different stuff other than just putting the ball in the box. You’ve got to be innovative because football is always developing.”

Enjoying this interview? Read other instalments in our Long Read series, including in-depth conversations with Ivan Toney, Christian Norgaard and Ben Mee

Not only does Jensen take corners and free-kicks but, this campaign, he has added another string to his set-piece bow - throw-ins.

He recalls: “It was a new idea they came up with in pre-season because the coaches wanted the players who did the long throws last season - either Mads Bech or Ethan [Pinnock] - to be in the box because they were taller and good at heading.

“So, they just tested the whole squad and wanted to see if there were some of the shorter players who could put it in there.

“They divided us up into groups, we all got one throw each, and then they took out the ones they thought could develop their throw.

"Before that, I had a feeling that I could throw it pretty far, but it also helped that we had a throw-in specialist, Thomas Gronnemark, to change a few bits of my technique and help me get the ball five, six, seven yards further.

“He was recording every throw when he tested the whole squad, then I think he looks at the technique, maybe sees if you're not using the hip enough and so on, and, if you make those changes, there’s a chance you can throw it a lot further. It definitely helped me.”

The improvements keep on coming. Jensen has already attempted more tackles (89, ranking him third in the division) and won more tackles (47, ranking him 24th in the division) this season than he did last term.

Again, that’s no coincidence. The midfielder states that he wanted to add some extra tenacity to his game, which has required him to train not just his body, but his brain too.

"I've been training my mind so that, no matter what position I'm playing in, I’ve got to be more aggressive. It hasn't always been natural for me to be like that,” says Jensen.

When asked how he has done that, he replies: “It's just something you’ve got to remind yourself of.

“When Brian Riemer [Brentford’s former assistant head coach] was here, he would give me a little reminder before kick-off.

“But it’s got to the point where I don't need to be reminded of it any more; I think I've got it in me now.

“I'm never going to be the most aggressive player ever, but it's a lot better now.”

His new-found aggression was evident when he scored his first goal of the season in Brentford’s 4-0 victory over Manchester United, as he hunted down former club and current international team-mate Christian Eriksen, won the ball back inside the area and calmly doubled the Bees’ lead.

Reminiscing about this moment leads to an honest conversation about Eriksen’s arrival at Brentford a year ago, which provided more competition in the middle of the park.

But the midfielder doesn’t frame it that way and believes that, if he was fit enough, he and Eriksen could have played alongside each other, which was the case in the final games of the campaign.

“It was a big signing for the club and, even though people were in doubt of how he was physically after what had happened, I was in no doubt,” says Jensen.

“Everyone saw what he did for Tottenham for seven years and, of course, he was out for six months, but he wasn't really injured, it wasn’t like a normal injury.

“I thought that it was very good for the team. We were in a tough period as well, so it just helped us and gave us a boost because he hadn’t been part of that tough period, so he just came in with a big energy.

"After six months out, he was really ready to and just enjoying his game more than ever.

“So, I was happy and, if I was 100 per cent, I felt like we would have played together, just like we did in the final five or six games.

“Unfortunately, that didn't happen until the end of the season.”

When you look at Jensen's numbers from last season (which tell you that his expected assists, shot-creating actions and key passes per 90 put him in or around the top 40 players in the division), it’s clear that top-flight potential has always been there.

Jensen's football intelligence - something that allows him to make the Brentford midfield tick - can’t be learnt from something or someone.

“I would always watch the analysis before, during and after the games - that’s maybe helped me a bit,” Jensen responds, when I ask about his approach to football.

“Maybe it comes naturally to me. I’m the kind of player who wants things to work in the best way.

“That's why I’ve always found it interesting how teams build up and the positioning of different players at different times.

"I think a lot of people when they watch a game just focus on where the ball is, but I’ve always looked at the whole pitch, all the players, and that’s helped me a lot.

“I know that results are the most important thing, but I really want it to look pretty.

“I just love the beauty of football.”