Thomas Frank is proud of our record against the Premier League's big guns this season and wants to add Manchester United to the list of sides we've taken points off this term. With wins over Arsenal and Chelsea, plus draws against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, already in the bag, Thomas sees our trip to Manchester United tonight as another chance for his Bees side to express themselves on the biggest stages. Listen to Thomas' thoughts ahead of the game below.
Team News …
Christian Norgaard and Kristoffer Ajer, touch wood, should be available to play on Monday.
Ethan Pinnock is not ready. We hope that Southampton could a possibility which is the same for Sergi Canos. Frank Onyeka could be longer. Saman Ghoddos is out with a twisted ankle.
Manchester United’s season so far …
The club is maybe the biggest in world football with what they have created over the years. The team is obviously struggling, in terms of their ambitions. I can say that without any disrespect; they have had a tough season. It is always not good when you have to sack a Head Coach because something is not right. I'm pretty sure that their expectations were to be higher, and they expected to be higher. It is still a team of World Class players. Sancho, Ronaldo, Fernandes, and Rashford are among the best offensive players in the league on their best day. It is a huge challenge; we are looking forward to it.
The home game …
I think we played a fantastic first-half and should easily have been two goals up. Unfortunately, De Gea performed fantastically, and we couldn’t quite keep it up second-half. If you are Brentford playing against one of the biggest clubs in the world, then you can be quite satisfied with the performance. We’ve gone into every game this season with a big belief we can do something. We will go into that game with big belief again. We go there with huge respect; going to Old Trafford is never easy no matter what narrative everyone is creating.
Heading to Old Trafford …
It's 11 vs 11. I know they have a fantastic history and big names on the back of their shirts but it’s about going there, expressing ourselves, and trying to do our best.
We want to go into every game with confidence and belief that you can do something. We are not going there with fear. If we could win there, it would be unbelievable.
Results against the big teams …
It makes it very clear that we can compete in this league. I’m proud, the staff are proud, the players are proud, and, I hope, the fans are proud. It’s not that often that a newly-promoted team gets results against the normal top six. We are very pleased with that, but I want to get points against every club. I understand the story is bigger if we are drawing 3-3 against Liverpool or beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It is that consistency that makes me the proudest overall.
Our season so far …
When you go into a Premier League season as a promoted team you don’t know exactly what to expect. It was even less for us as not one staff member had worked at a Premier League club before and not one player had played either, two minutes from Ivan Toney and two minutes from Sergi Canos don’t count. When we played the first game it was with zero experience. What did we expect? I don’t exactly know but I do know that we wanted to aim as high as possible, try to attack, and be an asset to the league. I had huge belief that we could do something. That was the message to the players.