Brentford boss Keith Andrews believes his side’s hard-fought 2-0 Carabao Cup second-round win at Bournemouth will help silence their doubters.
The Bees were among the pre-season favourites for Premier League relegation after losing Thomas Frank, Bryan Mbeumo and captain Christian Norgaard, but rookie head coach Andrews has now won two of his first three games in charge.
He said: “These games are really early in the season and you’re looking for fitness levels and to ensure everyone’s fully up to speed.
“I think you can see that from the games in general over the last couple of weekends, so it’s important to utilise the squads for that reason.
“There were tough calls going into the Villa game at the weekend. Players that were left out would have been frustrated, and tonight shows what we have as a club, as a squad.
“We have a real togetherness and I am really pleased with a lot of the performances tonight.
“Some of the players coming back from long-term injuries in particular have been on a tough journey.
“It’s not easy when you’re not available to play and do the thing you love doing, so with Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey and (Igor) Thiago and his goal there were positives tonight.
“We defended amazingly well again and did the basics of the game that I feel will get you results. We came up with two good goals.
“The reality is there’s probably been a narrative around the club in recent weeks and months, which I understand to a point because of the departures of staff and players.
“But people don’t realise what goes on on a day-to-day basis.”
Fabio Carvalho fired Brentford into the lead 11 minutes before half-time, ghosting onto the end of Kristoffer Ajer’s knockdown from Henry’s cross before tucking home at the far post.
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