Frank confident Brentford can trouble Man United again

Thomas Frank says Brentford believe they can cause Manchester United further problems at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The Bees manager saw his men thump Erik ten Hag’s United 4-0 at home last August.

And while emphasising how tough an assignment he views the return fixture, Frank has also stressed Brentford’s confidence that “we can do something”.

The Dane told a press conference: “I know it will be unbelievably difficult (on Wednesday).

“They will come flying out and fighting for every single ball. They’ll be showing unbelievable determination, they’ll be on top of everything, and their skillset is absolutely frightening when you look at the players they have in their squad.

“It will be difficult but, of course, we believe in ourselves that we can do something.”

Since losing 2-1 at home to Brighton and then suffering the thrashing at Brentford in the first two games of their Premier League campaign, United have recovered to fight for a Champions League berth – although they head into Wednesday’s contest winless in three league games following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Newcastle.

Regarding the last meeting with United, Frank said: “That was a very, very good win in the history of Brentford.

“I don’t want to run away from that – we are very proud of that. But we know it will be a completely different game on Wednesday night.

“It’s a big credit to Manchester United’s history and what they’ve achieved when you look at how much that win meant to us.

“That’s what comes when a club has done fantastically over the last 30 years, with that golden era and when they won everything under (Sir Alex) Ferguson.

“For us to beat them is a big thing. But that’s history, we can’t use that for anything on Wednesday night. That was a completely different game.”

Brentford are currently seven points behind United, having played a game more, as they make their own push for European football.

They drew 3-3 at Brighton on Saturday to make it one defeat in their last 16 league outings.

Overall their league record so far this season, which followed promotion in 2021 and a 13th-placed finish last term, is 10 wins, 13 draws and five losses from 28 games.

Frank said: “We want to keep improving. Before the season everyone was talking about second season syndrome. I was saying I didn’t believe in it but I respect the league. Success was to finish 17th and every position above that would be even more success.

“Looking back at the draws, there are more games we should have won rather than lost. The question is how we can tip them over the line. We need to be consistent in what we do, keep working on bits in the offensive play, and keep going for the win”