MX23RW : Friday, February 7 07:48:07| >> :600:1685481:1685481:
Jan 18, 2020 at 3pm UK at ​John Smith's Stadium
Attendance: 20,874
HuddersfieldHuddersfield Town
0-0
Brentford
FT

Thomas Frank frustrated as Brentford held by Huddersfield

Thomas Frank frustrated as Brentford held by Huddersfield
© Reuters
The Bees missed the chance to move up to third in the Championship.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank was left frustrated after his promotion-pushing side drew a blank away to relegation-strugglers Huddersfield.

Frank's side missed the chance to leapfrog Fulham into third place and close the gap on second-placed Leeds, who were beaten away to QPR earlier in the day.

Midfielder Josh Da Silva struck a post with three minutes remaining, but it was the hosts who created the best chance of the 0-0 contest when leading scorer Karlan Grant incredibly blazed over from point-blank range.

"We will find out at the end of the season whether that's a valuable point or not," said Danish coach Frank.

"We always try to go and get three points. I said to the players before that Huddersfield are a very difficult side to play against and they showed that again today.

"Danny [Cowley] and his coaching staff have done a really good job since they've come into the club. It's not surprising that they were well-prepared for us and that they wanted to do everything they could to close us down.

"That's natural because we're on quite a good run and, at this moment in time, we're pretty good going forward. So I would say our foundation is still really good and we're still really difficult to score against.

"I think Huddersfield created absolutely nothing except for one really big chance, which was for me a clear misunderstanding from my centre-back [Julian Jeanvier]. He should have just cleared the ball. I don't know why he just let it go past him in the penalty area.

"But except for that, they had zero things, which I'm pleased with and shows why we've progressed so much on the defensive side."

For once the Bees' impressive strike force of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins failed to fire.

And Frank said: "Offensively on the day our famous BMW was not the tuned version. Definitely not. None of the three were.

"We know, especially away from home, you need one of them to step up to the plate and have a top game. It's always a bit more difficult [away from home] and none of them had a top game.

"We didn't have that, but it was not only them. I think throughout the game too many of my players didn't play simple enough, didn't run enough and that final pass was not there.

"We actually only had one big chance where we hit the post, but then I think we had 10 or 12 good opportunities where we needed to get more out of it."

Huddersfield coach Cowley was happy his side bounced back from a 5-2 mauling at home to Stoke and a 2-1 away defeat to fellow strugglers Barnsley last time out in the league.

"It was painful losing to Stoke. I don't think I've ever conceded five goals in a game during my managerial career," said Cowley, who gave debuts to three new players.

"Today wasn't perfect but it was a step in the right direction. Hopefully collectively we'll take confidence from that and it helps us moving forward.

"We're respectful of Brentford and what they are, they are one of the best teams in the league. But we restricted them to not many chances and gained confidence in possession.

"They're [Brentford] one of the best teams in the league, but the dressing room feels better. We've dug in, worked really hard and the new players have injected some new blood.

"We know this journey we're on is not going to be easy, but all in all, when you consider the quality of Brentford, that's a good point for us.

"With respect to the players that are already here, we've been waiting for the cavalry to arrive."

body check tags ::

Click here for more stories about Thomas Frank

Click here for more stories about Brentford

Share this article now:
New Instagram promo
Brentford manager Thomas Frank on January 11, 2020
Read Next:
Thomas Frank signs new Brentford contract to 2023
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.

rhs 2.0
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool25241060154573
2Manchester CityMan City25163665293651
3Leicester CityLeicester25154654262849
4Chelsea2512584334941
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs2510784032837
6Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd259972623336
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd259883629735
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2581163532335
9Everton2596103137-633
10Arsenal2561363234-231
11Burnley2594122838-1031
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2587102436-1231
13Southampton2594123146-1531
14Crystal Palace257992229-730
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2568113037-726
16Bournemouth2575132538-1326
17Aston Villa2574143247-1525
18West Ham UnitedWest Ham2566133043-1324
19Watford2558122339-1623
20Norwich CityNorwich2546152447-2318

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Ultra close-up image of Kevin De Bruyne [NOT FOR USE IN ARTICLES]Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!