Brentford get ready for life after Eriksen and close on deal for Mikkel Damsgaard

After a relatively stress-free pre-season, Brentford go into Sunday’s Premier League opener at Leicester brimming with confidence and with a far stronger squad than last season. That is no small achievement given that they have lost their creative spark, Christian Eriksen. Thomas Frank, though disappointed to have lost his compatriot, is looking ahead. “We had a good team before Eriksen and we still have a good team,” he said.

Eriksen’s impact after his January arrival was striking but it is lazy to suggest he kept the team up on his own and that perception has angered many fans. Frank is adamant some of his other midfielders can step up.

“It’ll be a team effort but there will be some midfielders that can have a great season,” he says. “It can be [Mathias] Jensen, [Josh] Dasilva and [Vitaly] Janelt – all three of them. Josh is coming back, so let’s see who’s going to be flourishing and performing.”

Eriksen’s signing coincided with the return of the goalkeeper David Raya, who was missed badly after sustaining a knee injury in late October, and on Friday Frank highlighted the Spaniard’s importance, as well as that of Ivan Toney and Rico Henry, in response to claims that Eriksen kept Brentford up.

Raya was complimented for his distribution in last season’s 3-3 draw with Liverpool by Jürgen Klopp, who said the goalkeeper “should have No 10 on his back”. Raya kept three clean sheets in his first seven league games and the defence suffered without him.

His replacements, Álvaro Fernández and Jonas Lössl, blew hot and cold, with Fernández keeping one clean sheet in 12 league games. Both have departed and Brentford have upgraded by signing Thomas Strakosha after his Lazio contract expired. The Albania international played every