Brentford

Chris Adams
BBC Sport journalist

Leeds United's incredible home record under the lights at Elland Road may have come to an end last month but they'll be looking to start afresh with the visit of European hopefuls Brentford on Saturday night (20:00 GMT).

Prior to the 1-0 defeat against Manchester City on 28 February, the Whites had gone 25 home games unbeaten in matches that kicked off at 17:00 or later.

A five-match winless streak in the league has left them 15th in the table, a mere three points above the drop zone with eight games to go.

Whites drawing blanks

They've failed to score in their last three, a record compounded by top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin missing a penalty against Crystal Palace last week. He's without a goal in his last five in all competitions.

The striker has earned an England recall for his overall form this season, but Leeds are really suffering now that his December hot streak – which included the equaliser in a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium – has tailed off.

Per 90 minutes, he performed better in almost every attacking metric before the turn of the year.

The last player to find the net in the league for Daniel Farke's side was the manager's compatriot, Anton Stach, who has similarly been rewarded for his displays this season with a first Germany call-up in four years.

Stach has three league assists to his name and no player in the division has created more chances from set-plays this season than the Leeds midfielder (27, level with Bruno Fernandes).

League positions aside, recent history suggests Leeds have cause for optimism going into this one. They've lost just one of their last 16 home league games against Brentford, winning seven and drawing eight, and are unbeaten in seven since a 1-0 loss in February 2015.

Keith keeping calm

Seventh-placed Brentford's solid showings since the start of February – just one defeat in seven league games – have kept them firmly in the hunt for a maiden European adventure.

A significant turnaround in their away form has helped that cause massively. Keith Andrews' side lost seven of their first eight away Premier League games this season, tasting victory just once, but have now won five of their last seven on the road.

Reflecting on throwing away a two-goal lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out, Andrews said: "I think it's really simple. If we produce a second-half performance again, we will struggle. If we produce first-half performances of that level, then we will have a good end to the season."

One of his goalscorers against Wolves, Igor Thiago, is enjoying the best league campaign of his career, netting 19 Premier League goals to date. He could become just the third Bees player to score 20 in a top-flight season, along with Ivan Toney in 2022-23 and Bryan Mbeumo in 2024-25.

The centre-forward's brilliant return has landed him a first call-up to the Brazil national team, while Jordan Henderson – who scored Brentford's goal in December's draw between the two clubs – retains his spot in Thomas Tuchel's England squad.

Four of the last six league games between these sides have ended in draws, with one win apiece, but those Bees fans making the trip from west London to West Yorkshire will do so in a positive frame of mind.

Brentford have lost just one of their last 13 league games against newly promoted opponents, winning 11 and drawing the other.

Brentford boss Keith Andrews has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Leeds United at Elland Road (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On team news: "Mikkel Damsgaard was on the grass, which is positive. We will give him every chance to play this weekend."

• Full-backs Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey remain unavailable with hamstring injuries, while Vitaly Janelt (metatarsal) and Josh Dasilva (knee ligament) are also out.

• Andrews said that Igor Thiago's Brazil call-up is a "proud moment" for Brentford as a club.

• Asked if striker Thiago, who is three goals behind Erling Haaland for the league's top scorer, could win the Golden Boot, he added: "He needs to keep striving and pushing hard. We will support him like we always have and hopefully he will keep scoring."

• On proving people wrong this season: "We have spoken a lot about the journey we have been on, which has been pleasing. It gives us a lot of pride for what we stand for."

• He added his side are on a "really good run" and have a "quiet, calm confidence" about how they approach the game against Leeds.

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Got a question about Brentford? Get in touch and we'll seek answers

England manager Thomas Tuchel has named his 35-man squad for the two friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March.

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle United), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion).

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan).

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur).

There are 13 players involved who weren't in the last squad back in November, while there's a first senior call-up for Everton midfielder James Garner and Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele.

Image source, Getty Images

We are getting to the stage of the season where every Premier League team is managing injuries in their squad as the sheer volume and intensity of games begins to take its toll.

But who has been most affected by injuries across the campaign so far?

Ben Dinnery, from Premier Injuries Limited, has provided the data below, showing the number of domestic injuries each top-flight team has suffered, defined by a player missing at least one Premier League game.

The data has been taken from the opening weekend up to and including 18 March.

Despite this table listing domestic injuries, it is unsurprising that the top three of Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa have all competed in European competition, with the Gunners still fighting on four fronts and the Blues also coming off the back of a much-shortened pre-season following their Club World Cup victory.

Perhaps more surprisingly, however, is the fact Arsenal's 31 domestic injuries so far comfortably leads the way, illustrating the strength and depth available to Mikel Arteta to still have his side nine points clear at the top of the table.

The graphic below shows Tottenham lead the way for days missed by injured players, illustrating the issues faced by Thomas Frank, who had to cope with long-term absentees including Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.

Both West Ham and Brentford are in the bottom three for domestic injuries and days missed through those injuries, while Arsenal and Villa are in the top three for both.

Chelsea drop down the table when looking at days missed, showing they have predominately suffered from short absences spread throughout the squad.

It is worth pointing out that Newcastle's two longest absences this season - Emil Krafth (120 days) and Yoane Wissa (88 days), who had not yet even trained with his new side, resulted from injuries picked up on international duty and are not factored into the figures.

Ian Westbrook
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Igor Thiago's first call-up to the Brazil national squad on Monday is a deserved reward for his goals and hard work this season.

Us Brentford fans have been willing him to be picked but fearing he would miss out after suggestions that Brazil fans don't want players from unfashionable clubs - such as Brentford - in the national squad.

However, Thiago's 19 Premier League goals this season, including one on Monday in the disappointing 2-2 draw with Wolves, have made it impossible for head coach Carlo Ancelotti to ignore him.

After missing virtually all of last season through injury, Thiago has more than made up for that this term.

Second only to Erling Haaland for Premier League goals so far this season, Thiago has proved a real handful for defenders up and down the country.

He scores different types of goals too. Monday's was a tap-in - a typical striker's finish, being in the right place at the right time.

But he has also proved himself adept at running on to through balls and finishing strongly too.

His work-rate is impressive so that even if he is not scoring, he is contributing and bringing team-mates into play.

Thiago also helps out defensively and always puts in a huge shift.

However, despite the efforts of him and his team-mates on Monday, we saw another two vital points in the race for our potential "European tour" slip away.

With other results going for us over the weekend, this match was a real chance to close the gap on the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool. Still can't believe I'm writing that by the way!

But our recent run of indifferent performances continued as Wolves had the better of the second half and could have won it.

We could still qualify for Europe, but our four remaining away games make this seem like a tall order to me.

Find more from Ian Westbrook at Beesotted podcast, external

We asked for your thoughts after Monday's Premier League game between Brentford and Wolves.

Here are some of your comments:

Brentford fans

Les: Did not learn anything from the Burnley game. Andrews too late with the subs. How can Brentford think of Europe when they are struggling to fill the subs bench?

Matt: We knew it was coming… Comfortable for much of the first half, two good goals in the bag - but letting that goal in before half time, you could just sense that Wolves were going to come out with more belief and we did not adjust accordingly. Love Keith, but not sure the subs were right today. On the plus-side, great to see Kayode get his first Brentford goal. Well played to Wolves though, showing real fighting spirit in the face of impending doom.

George: The engine's fallen out of our season at this point - we need the international break to put ourselves back together. We can't seem to play two good halves at the moment, and the second half of this one had shades of our hairy 3-4 win at Burnley but without a now injured Damsgaard to save our hides.

Zachary: We are really missing Janelt. It is clear that Henderson is not up to pace, and his balls over the top are becoming far too predictable. Our midfield was pretty much not existent at times and that was massively exposed during Wolves first goal, and their player was allowed to walk the length of the pitch. Need that midfield anchor. Poor changes from Keith Andrews too, bringing on Yarmo for Schade and Ajer for Damsgaard - pretty much going to a back five and inviting Wolves to score. We go again on Saturday. UP THE BEES.

Wolves fans

Stanley: Great second half when Angel Gomes came on in place of Mane, the lad is not playing well right now with too many mistakes - but he will learn from that. Our first half was not that good and we allowed two goals by not doing basic defensive work. We got lucky with Armstrong's goal because that was a back pass, but we take any luck we get. Tolu looked strong and determined to do the job coming on as sub and his header got us the point. He could have got us three if the cross bar was not in the way! We can't stay up but we can give a fight of it .

Wol: Good performance after a terrible 35 minutes at the start. We showed a great spirit second half and the atmosphere was terrific throughout from the fans. Well worth the long day to see us tonight.

Rhys: We did fantastically to get back into the game - just a shame that we didn't go on and win it.

Dan: It was a good game of football. The referee got a bit trigger-happy awarding free kicks towards the end, which stopped the flow of the game and maybe dented either side's chances. But overall we'd happily take the point from 2-0 down. Keep fighting lads.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Of Igor Thiago's 22 goals this season, 19 have come in the Premier League leaving him jut three behind leading scorer Erling Haaland.

And it is the Brazilian's goals that have turned Brentford into unlikely Champions League contenders.

Thiago could celebrate an excellent season by helping his country in the World Cup after his first call-up to Carlo Ancelotti's squad.

Injury wrecked the 24-year-old's first season after a £30m move from Club Brugge with a meniscus injury suffered in pre-season setting him back almost immediately.

A joint infection also ruined his recovery and he made just eight appearances without scoring.

But since netting in the opening-day defeat at Nottingham Forest he has never gone more than six games without a goal. Then, he ended his mini drought with a hat-trick in the win at Everton in January.

Players at Brentford inevitably move on, like Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa in the summer, and Thiago is likely to eventually follow suit as it is the club's model.

But he is revelling in his form and fitness to become Brentford's main man this season, one which could still end with European qualification.

Brentford manager Keith Andrews, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We are disappointed, but equally we need to understand why, I suppose. We created some opportunities and I felt like we could've had more if we had been a little more clinical and our decision-making a bit sharper. Second half I wanted us to be front-foot, and we couldn't get control of the game in the second half like in the first. We didn't do the basics as well and ultimately, we're frustrated with that."

On Wolves playing well: "That's for them to discuss. I think where Wolves are it's pretty obvious they've upped their game. I think some of the players need to have a good look in the mirror as to why they found themselves where they are. There is a lot of talent in that squad. They can cause you serious problems. That's for Rob and other people to discuss.

On the backpass: "I think there is enough officials in and around the pitch to identify whether it is a backpass or not. The fact I'm getting asked about it in every interview would suggest that most people would think it was a backpass."

On it not being seen as a reason for losing: "I'm not making an excuse at all, I'm giving my comment on the incident which made it 2-1 and a very different game going into half-time."

On their attacking threats in the first half: "We've got lots of different strengths to the way we can play the game. Thiago has had a big day. He has been called up for Brazil, which is huge for him. We want to be unpredictable and cause the opposition problems in any way we can. We did that on a good few occasions, in particular the first half."

On what the messaging will be going forwards: "I think it's really simple. If we produce a second half performance again, we will struggle. If we produce first-half performances of that level, then we will have a good end to the season."

Did you know?

• Brentford failed to win a Premier League game after going 2+ goals ahead for the first time in 37 games, last dropping points from such a position in December 2022 against Tottenham (2-2).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Brentford's performance

What did you make of Wolves' display?

Come back on Tuesday for a selection of your replies

Sepp van den Berg and Mathias Jensen return for Brentford as they look to close the gap to the top five.

Kristoffer Ajer and Yehor Yarmoliuk drop to the bench following the Bees' FA Cup exit at West Ham.

Keith Andrews' side - currently seventh in the Premier League - will move just two points behind fifth-placed Liverpool with victory.

Brentford XI: Kelleher, Lewis-Potter, Collins, Van Den Berg, Kayode, Jensen, Henderson, Damsgaard, Schade, Thiago, Ouattara.

Subs: Valdimarsson, Pinnock, Yarmoliuk, Nelson, Ajer, Donovan, Furo, Bentt, Shield.

Wolves boss Rob Edwards makes four changes for their trip to west London.

Jose Sa, Ladislav Krejci, Andre and Adam Armstrong return for Wolves, bottom of the Premier League and looking to stage an improbable push for survival.

Toti Gomes, Angel Gomes and Tolu Arokodare drop to the bench, while goalkeeper Sam Johnstone is not in the squad.

Wolves XI: Sa, Tchatchoua, Mosquera, S Bueno, Krejci, H Bueno, Andre, J Gomes, Bellegarde, Mane, Armstrong.Subs: Bentley, Lima, Doherty, Toti, Wolfe, A Gomes, R Gomes, Hwang, Arokodare.

Subs: Bentley, Gomes, Arokodare, Pedro Lima, Doherty, Toti Gomes, Hwang Hee-Chan, Rodrigo Gomes, Moller Wolfe

Wolves have picked up but they are still the only Premier League side without an away win this season.

I don't see that changing here. Keith Andrews has done a brilliant job at Brentford and although they are out of the FA Cup they are still doing really well in the league.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Chris Adams
BBC Sport journalist

Brentford will be looking to bounce back from their FA Cup penalty shootout heartache when they welcome bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers to west London on Monday (20:00 GMT).

Dango unblamed

Keith Andrews' side crashed out of the cup at the fifth-round stage against West Ham United, but the head coach was quick to defend Dango Ouattara after the Burkina Faso winger's attempt at a Panenka failed miserably.

"He practises that technique a lot and will have the utmost support from me and everyone around," said the Irishman. No wonder his side have been running through brick walls for him all season.

The Bees sit seventh, well placed in the hunt for a European spot, largely thanks to 18-goal striker Igor Thiago's blistering form in front of goal. Ouattara has played his part in the support cast, chipping in with five, while Kevin Schade has seven.

Perhaps because of Thiago's style – he's made more runs into the opposition box (151) than any other player in the Premier League this season – Brentford have scored a higher percentage of their goals from inside the penalty area than any other team in the top flight.

After winning seven and losing just one of their first 11 league home games this season, Brentford have since lost two of their past three at Gtech Community Stadium. The Bees haven't suffered successive home league defeats since February 2025.

…And out come the Wolves

It may have taken until March but Wolverhampton Wanderers have finally won back-to-back league games. They have done it the hard way too, defeating two of the top six in Aston Villa and Liverpool, the latter of whom responded by dumping them out of the FA Cup three days later.

While Wolves remain rooted to the bottom and highly likely to go down, those victories have taken them well clear of Derby County's record for the lowest Premier League points total.

With that particular monkey off their backs, Rob Edwards' side can perhaps attack their remaining eight games of the season with a little less trepidation. A first league away win at the 15th attempt would be a good way to start.

Portuguese wing-back Rodrigo Gomes has emerged as something of a super sub in recent games, coming off the bench to score in those successive wins.

Four of his five league goals for Wolves have come as a substitute, including all three this season. Of all the players who have scored five or more goals in the competition's history, only two have netted a higher share from the bench than Gomes.

A double from Keane Lewis-Potter gave Brentford all three points at Molineux in December. Wolves are winless in their past four against this opposition, shipping 10 goals in the process.

No side at the bottom of the table on each matchday has won three consecutive top-flight games since Leicester City in 2015. If Wolves can match that feat, perhaps they can start dreaming of the great escape...

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford defender Nathan Collins says he is thrilled for Keith Andrews as he has had exposure to how hard his head coach has worked to earn his position.

Andrews took charge of the Bees during the summer - stepping up from set-piece coach - with some onlookers questioning his experience.

The 45-year-old is now attracting widespread praise in his first season as a head coach.

"I have known Keith a long time - since I was 16," Collins told The Football Interview on BBC Sounds.

"I had him Under-17s with Ireland. I was buzzing for him as I know how hard he has worked. He has that balance where he knows when to shout at you and when to be your mate. That man-management is really important."

In sitting down with Kelly Somers, Collins discusses his childhood, love of cooking and how he would spend a day off.

"If it's a weekday and good weather I'll play golf with a few of the lads here," he says.

"Me, Hakon Valdimarsson, Keane Lewis-Potter, Kristoffer Ajer. It's a good group and we do a little Ryder Cup style here as there are a lot of us - staff against players. We did it last year - 18 holes in the morning , lunch and 18 in the afternoon, really good fun. The players won."

Asked what people get wrong about him, 24-yearpold Collins said: "Maybe I get the stereotypical, 'he's just a footballer'. And then you get 'ah he's pretty nice to talk to'.

"The main thing I want to be is just a good person, a nice person, a caring person. As much as I want to be the best footballer I can ever be, I want to be the best person."

Listen in full on BBC Sounds

In this week's edition of The Football Interview, Kelly Somers speaks to Brentford captain Nathan Collins

Collins discusses his relationship with Bees boss Keith Andrews, the Republic of Ireland's chances of making the World Cup and plenty more.

Hit play above to hear the whole interview or listen on BBC Sounds here

Sean Byrne
BBC Sport journalist

Brentford boss Keith Andrews has been speaking to the media before Monday's Premier League game against Wolves at Gtech Community Stadium (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On Reiss Nelson's availability: "Nelson is going to be part of the [training] group tomorrow. It'll be similar to last week - we'll see how it goes and then make a decision on his involvement."

• On Rico Henry, after he was ruled out with a hamstring injury last week: "He will be out for numerous weeks, for sure. It's a decent hamstring injury, so we just have to make sure we get that right for him, more so than us. We want him to get back to a good place." He added that he cannot give an exact date on when the club expects Henry to return.

• In other team news, Aaron Hickey (hamstring), Vitaly Janelt (metatarsal), and Josh Dasilva (knee ligament) remain unavailable.

• On Wolves: "They've clearly had a frustrating season, and they would've had higher aspirations than what they've produced."

• On opposing manager Rob Edwards: "Rob has built teams in his relatively young managerial career that have been really good and had promotions, with spirit and fight. What you've seen in recent weeks is what he's done before with other teams.

Got a question about Brentford? Get in touch and we'll seek answers

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Nevin was asked who this season's unsung hero was - and one of his two selections was Brentford's Keane Lewis-Potter.

There are a few players dotted around who do not start every week but, when they play, never let the team down.

They are happy to play wherever and whenever the manager asks them to.

‌I like this outlook and if I had to pluck one from quite a few it might be Keane Lewis-Potter at Brentford.

He regularly plays left full-back, left wing-back and left wing, but he has performed exceptionally in a bunch of other positions as well.

‌At 5ft 7in, he isn't the tallest so that makes that adaptability even more impressive.

Maybe most impressive of all for a Premier League player with over 100 appearances, he has the tiniest Wikipedia page imaginable.

The bio of his personal life reads, "Lewis-Potter attended St Mary's College, Hull." That's it, seven words, and two of them are hyphenated!

‌So yes, I think he can safely be my unsung hero generally going under the radar.

Sign up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter

Phil Parry
BBC Radio London reporter

Image source, Reuters

Some of your have used our Ask Me Anything about Brentford form to raise what's happening with Rico Henry's contract - which expires in the summer.

It was a real blow to see Henry suffer another injury the other night which will seriously curtail his 10th season at the club.

Head Coach Keith Andrews has confirmed that the left back will have a significant spell on the sidelines with the hamstring issue.

Since joining back in 2016 the former Walsall defender has been both a hugely important part of the club's rise into and sustained presence in the Premier League as well as being a popular player with the fans.

He has of course been beset with injuries including two ACL issues.

The most recent knee problem sustained in autumn 2023, and some setbacks in recovery, saw him miss a lot of football. During the current campaign though, we have observed the Jamaican International get back to his best.

Andrews certainly values what the 28-year-old offers, saying this week: "He epitomises the way I like the game to be played: aggressive and front-footed. And he's been a big, big part of what has been the best chapter in this club's history; he's been on the journey."

My understanding is that there is no reason why the club will not exercise a contract extension clause for Henry as he is seen as an important player in the squad and certainly suits the way the current coaching staff want to approach playing.

At the very least Henry is not a player that the Bees would want to make available on a free and there's no suggestion that he has any intention of going anywhere else.

His most recent injury blow might be a set back for Rico, but next season would be his 11th in West London, which is an incredible achievement, plus if he makes a good recovery and his International team mates do the business in the play-offs, he could enter it off the back of playing at a World Cup.

How good would that be.

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Brentford's majority owner Matthew Benham says head coach Keith Andrews proved to be an "outstanding" candidate at a time of high risk for the Bees.

Andrews - a former set-piece coach at the club - succeeded Thomas Frank during the summer at a time when the Bees also lost strike duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa to Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Speaking to presenter Roger Bennett from the Men in Blazers podcast at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference 2026,, external Benham discussed how he viewed losing key players, citing an increase in probability of relegation given both walked out the door.

On replacing Frank, he explained: "I'm a big believer in sort of the collective making decisions. Not in a group think way. So I don't like the idea of me saying 'oh I think we should go for Keith, does everyone else agree?' And they all say 'yes boss'.

"It's more myself, Phil Giles - who's a director of football, Lee Dykes, the technical director, and Ben Ryan, head of performance. The first thing we did, the four of us, we go away separately and think about, who could be interesting and then we come together to talk and and all four of us thought, you know, Keith seemed like a really, really strong candidate.

"He is clearly, as you have seen, an amazing communicator, fantastic leader. We knew that he was very good with with the players and also with the existing staff. We realised we were in a bit of a high-risk scenario anyway with all the sort turnover of staff and players.

"So we could have brought in a sort of big name from outside who comes with an entourage that would have had a lot of risk. It just seemed that Keith was like the clear logical candidate. Maybe we were in a bubble because then when it got announced and there was all this uproar we were like 'what have we done?'

"But from where we were sitting it just seemed that Keith was like a clear outstanding candidate."

Benham also spoke at length about buying into Brentford in 2005.

"For the first few years of being financially involved, really from 2005 until I took over fully, I didn't really see a serious long term prospect," he explained.

"It was more like a labour of love, the team I supported as a kid. This is a bit of fun, could I put enough money in to be a third or fourth division team?

"It was around the summer of 2013 that I thought it could be a bit more than a labour of love.

"Until then the conventional wisdom was unless you're a huge club with a huge following and stadium then you'll always be a lower league team. But it got to a stage where the TV deal in the Premier League was so big that it seemed you didn't need this traditional support to make a viable business.

"If we got to the Premier League we would have that TV money. But if we weren't the money was washing around and Premier League teams would buy the top players in the Championship. We could climb up via the transfer market."

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford are renowned for their excellent recruitment - discovering unpolished gems, turning them into stars and selling for huge profits.

Just the strikers they have had over the past few years - Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and others - bear witness to that.

However, owner Matthew Benham has revealed they missed out on a number of targets in recent seasons who have since gone on to be stars elsewhere.

Speaking to presenter Roger Bennett from the Men In Blazers podcast at MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference 2026, external last weekend, Benham was grilled on those that they pursued but did not end up signing:

• Eberechi Eze: "We could have had him for £4m in 2016."

• Omar Marmoush: "He was available on a free about three years ago."

• Mykhailo Mudryk: "We were very close to signing him for a low fee."

• Michael Olise: "His scouting was unbelievable but we had just been promoted and were not used to the crazy agent fees for the time. The fee was so insanely high for that one, we had to step away."

Although some got away, Brentford's five seasons in the Premier League are testament to their expert dealings in the transfer market.

Perhaps that is why Benham can calmly reflect: "There will always be ones you miss out on."

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford's majority owner Matthew Benham has discussed the club's focus on set-pieces and revealed the Bees paid players a bonus for scoring an eye-catching number of goals from kick-off this season.

Keith Andrews' side scored inside 40 seconds in three consecutive games earlier in the season and Benham told the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference 2026: "They are on a set-piece bonus which drives them quite a lot and and they did say the three goals are straight from kick-off. They are set pieces and we we had a bit of a debate about whether they qualify as set pieces.

"We did have to pay out the bonus."

Benham's data-driven approach to football has been widely discussed and in a revealing discussion as a guest speaker, the Oxford physics graduate was quizzed on gaining an edge from set-pieces.

He added: "I should say Keith Andrews last year was our set-piece coach. He wouldn't want to be identified as a set-piece coach. I mean you know he saw himself as an all-round coach. He made it clear that when he spent last season with us as a set-piece coach that wasn't his ultimate calling.

"Whenever we raised the idea of a playbook in football - have signals - we were always told that was way too complicated.

"And yet you get players that barely have a high school education and can still memorise a 100-page playbook in NFL. It seemed the main resistance to set-pieces was that players don't like it, don't like boring training.

"Traditionally in English football, players absolutely love someone like Kevin Keegan, the training is fun, five-a-sides, head tennis, no boring learning/repetition or slow walkthroughs.

"But if you're going to be good at set-pieces or a tactical matter, it is quite a lot of boring stuff, repetition, rote learning and slow walkthroughs. A lot weren't doing it because players didn't like it.

"And traditionally if players didn't like it and the manager tried to push it, the manager might lose the dressing room. That was why we tried to push."

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