Brentford boss Smith hails ‘young, hungry’ squad after victory over Wednesday

Posted Monday, August 20, 2018 by PA

Brentford coach Dean Smith believes his young side are starting to come of age in the Championship.

The Londoners have one of the youngest squads in the division, with Chris Mepham, Ezri Konsa, Neal Maupay and Ollie Watkins all in their early twenties.

Maupay, from the penalty spot, and Watkins both found the net in a comfortable 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

Smith said: “We have young, hungry lads in this squad who have all had a season at this level and are all the better for it. They are all pushing each other on.

“They went to Stoke last week and were disappointed to come away with a point and that gives us belief.

“If I’m honest, today’s win could have been a lot more emphatic. We created a number of chances and, apart from a five-minute spell before half time, we were always the aggressors.”

Wednesday managed just a couple of worthwhile efforts on target and could have left Griffin Park on the end of a much heavier defeat but for goalkeeper Cameron Dawson.

Smith believes the midweek trip to Aston Villa, the club he supported as a boy, will be a massive test for his young side, but added: “They should have gone up last season, they have very good players and a very good manager, but we will go there full of belief.”

Wednesday boss Jos Luhukay said the performance of keeper Dawson was the only positive in a defeat that left him questioning his side’s focus and concentration.

“All credit to Brentford. They deserved the win and were a better team than us. They had chances to make it a bigger defeat and we have to thank our keeper for keeping the score down,” he said.

Dawson made at least four one-on-one saves to deny Maupay, Sergi Canos, Watkins and Said Benrahma as the Bees dominated the second 45 minutes.

And Luhukay said: “I am very disappointed because it is not nice the way we played. For the first 20 minutes we were in the game and then the penalty came and we lost control and Brentford looked stronger and had moments to score more.”

The Owls cause was not helped when winger Adam Reach hobbled off in the warm-up with a knee injury, but Luhukay refused to offer his absence as an excuse.

He added: “He is one of our important players, but we cannot use losing him as an excuse because we started with 11 players like Brentford.

“Realistically we have to try to finish higher than last season. We were strong in the last two months of last season and that spirit was not there today and that is very disappointing.

“We can only play with the team we have and the players we had today and we must always have focus and concentration and that was not 100 per cent today.”