Thomas Frank faces selection dilemma after Brentford come from behind to beat Stoke

As Brentford’s stars begin to return from injury, Thomas Frank will have to make key selection decisions ahead of their promotion run-in.

The Bees welcomed Josh Dasilva and Ivan Toney back to the starting lineup, with the latter scoring a late winner to seal a comeback victory against the Potters. Christian Nørgaard also returned to the matchday squad, coming off the bench to play for the first time since the beginning of October.

Frank’s side made two changes from the side that beat Sheffield Wednesday three days earlier, with Sergi Canós and Mathias Jensen dropping to the bench for Toney and Dasilva repectively. However, it was their defence that let them down after just 27 seconds. David Raya’s attempt to play out from the back saw him pass the ball straight to Tommy Smith, who set Jacob Brown up for a simple tap-in to give Stoke the lead.

Strangely, it was a deflated and lifeless performance from the Bees in the first half. Their lethargic passing was unlike what we’ve come to expect from them this season, and it allowed the visitors to press their opponents intensively. The Potters defended resolutely, but weren’t really put under any pressure in the opening 45 minutes. Given that the West London side are by far the top scorers in the Championship, this was a real shock.

Frank admitted that he didn’t expect Stoke to change their formation for this game. The Staffordshire side switched from their usual 4-2-3-1 formation to a 5-3-2 system. Unsurprisingly, it took a moment of magic to level the scores. Vitaly Janelt’s thunderbolt from outside the penalty area curled into the back of the Stoke net, before Toney popped up in the penalty area to slide the ball under Angus Gunn – completing the comeback with ten minutes to play.

The win keeps the Bees in the automatic promotion places, but more importantly, it gives them a three point lead on Watford and a four point lead on Swansea after their respective losses to Bournemouth and Bristol City. It also means that they remain seven points behind leaders Norwich ahead of their clash at Carrow Road on Wednesday afternoon.

The Canaries secured a 2-0 win away at Wycombe in Sunday’s lunchtime kickoff, taking them up to 70 points from just 33 games. Frank now has a selection dilemma as he looks to choose his strongest squad to take on the lead leaders.

Despite their catastrophic start to the game, the Brentford boss singled out Hendrik Dalsgaard, Winston Reid and Vitaly Janelt as the Bees’ best players in the first half. The German midfielder was given especially high praise, despite being substituted for Nørgaard in the 77th minute with the scores level at 1-1.

“I kept talking about Vitaly and was thinking about how to keep him on the pitch and have Christian on the pitch too.

“We have Vitaly again on Wednesday at Norwich and we are easing Christian back into the team, and we either have a serious problem to get them both into the team or the two of them have a battle to play.

“But what a fantastic advantage for us and this team to have two such good players with such a strong mentality.”

It seems like Frank will opt to stick with Janelt for Wednesday’s clash with the Canaries, as Nørgaard continues to be eased back into the starting lineup after an extended period on the sidelines. But that’s not the only decision that the Dane will have to make ahead of their trip to Norfolk.

Canós was dropped to the bench against Stoke, allowing Bryan Mbeumo to move back out wide and Toney to return up-front. Challenging Norwich’s fullbacks is going to be an incredibly difficult job, and the question remains as to whether the Spaniard will be brought back in to start against his former side, or whether the Bees will stick with Mbeumo and Tariqe Fosu on the wings.

Of course, Brentford will now be fully focused on their clash at Carrow Road, but the wider picture of their promotion run-in has to be considered. The Bees face 13 games in the next ten weeks, including crucial matches against promotion rivals such as Cardiff, Bournemouth and Watford. Their squad depth has considerably improved over the last few weeks, which will be incredibly important as the fixtures come thick and fast over the next couple of months.

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