Frank's Sir Alex Ferguson reference emphasises Brentford story ahead of Manchester United trip

Thomas Frank believes Manchester United's trophy-laden history made their stunning early season win over Erik ten Hag's side that much more special - but he isn't expecting a repeat on Wednesday night.

The Bees demolished United 4-0 in an early-season encounter that left United bottom of the table. All the goals came in the first half as the visitors capitulated in the capital.

For Brentford it was a first win over United in more than 80 years and a special occasion for the club. Frank felt United's Premier League successes under Sir Alex Ferguson, achieved with the Bees predominantly in the bottom two divisions, gave the August victory a noteworthy status but the Dane is under no illusions how different the Old Trafford contest will be.

READ MORE: Frank praises Ten Hag ahead of United trip

“That was a very, very good win in the history of Brentford," Frank said. “I don’t want to run away from that – we are very proud of that.

“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.

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