Brentford head coach Thomas Frank could not fault the energy and attitude of his players as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League at the Gtech Community Stadium.
It was a frustrating afternoon for the Bees in a game that lacked rhythm with countless stoppages. Brentford deservedly took the lead when Ben Mee produced a fine finish from Bryan Mbeumo’s cross, but the away side hit back a couple of minutes later through Rúben Neves.
Reflecting on the match, Frank said: “I think we need to take a helicopter view and look down.
"First of all, we needed to bounce back from last weekend’s performance, and I think we did that in a decent way. There was a lot of initiative, a lot of energy and running with a lot of will power. That is the foundation of bouncing back.
“We worked so hard to get in front and after that we need to be even more aware not to concede straight after. We need to do that a bit better.
"After that I felt we lacked the coolness and the quality on the day to create a few more big chances, so that was the frustrating bit, but all the foundation areas were ticked in terms of bouncing back. It is what it is, this is the Premier League, it’s a relentless league.”
The Bees did create some positive moments as Josh Dasilva saw his curled effort in the first half edge just wide of goal, before having a powerful drive well blocked in the second period. Captain on the day Ivan Toney also had a couple of moments where he may have been able to get a shot away but for a slip and a Wolves block.
Frank continued: “The small margins going our way didn’t maybe drop for us but that happens and we just need to continue to work hard and keep going forward.”
On the goal that the Bees did get, Frank was full of praise for Mee as he put in an assured display at the back while firing a fine volley past José Sá in the Wolves goal.
He continued: “It was a fantastic finish, what a goal, what a performance from Ben again. He maybe played some of his best football and I really enjoy watching him play. I think he deserved three points for that goal.”
Mathias Jensen was substituted on 37 minutes following an injury that Frank says the backroom staff will assess, while he also felt that Mikkel Damsgaard showed some good moments as he replaced him before the break. In a game that had a number of stoppages throughout, Frank felt that his side were unable to build momentum.
He said: “I think Mathias got a dead leg so we will assess him. I thought that Mikkel did well when he came on and I think he was involved in the goal and got into some good situations.
“It is frustrating and, of course there were some injuries. I would love to have had more rhythm to the game.
"We wanted to win, as always we go for that win but I think the energy, the initiative, the running and the will power, I loved that. We need to build on going forwards.”