Thomas Frank believes his side will be in for another physical battle when Brentford travel to the Bet365 Stadium to face Stoke on Saturday. 

The Bees made it back-to-back league wins with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, with summer signing Ivan Toney bagging a brace for the second game in succession. 

The victory takes Frank’s side up to seventh in the Championship table heading into the weekend’s action, as they begin to look back to their best after last season’s playoff final defeat. 

The Potters have picked up just one point less than Brentford this season, with Michael O’Neill’s side currently unbeaten in their last four league matches. 

And despite the Bees’ current good run of form, Frank knows his side will have to be well prepared for the trip to Staffordshire.  

“Of course we’d like to finish the week with nine points, we go to Stoke and we know that will be another extremely difficult challenge, but we are up for that,” the Dane said.  

“I expect another very physical game, another difficult game in terms of second ball play and how we handle that.  

“I think we showed against Sheffield Wednesday how well we can handle that, but we need to be as good on Saturday.” 

Frank was also keen to sing the praises of Toney, after the former Peterborough man made it seven goals in his last four matches with another brace at Hillsborough on Wednesday.  

The 24-year-old bagged his first just seven minutes in when he reacted quickest to a Cameron Dawson parry, before getting his head to full-debutant Vitaly Janelt’s corner on the half-hour mark to make it two. 

It may be early in the season, but the recent recruit already looks to be filling the boots left by Ollie Watkins at the heart of the Bees frontline, but that hasn’t stopped Frank from demanding more from his new striker. 

“We knew that he was a goalscorer and that he’d suit the way we played,” he said. 

“To score seven goals in four games speaks for itself. I’m very pleased with that but him and I want even more. We know that there are things we need to work on to make him even better. 

“The link-up play and the runs around him were superb and the effort was also up there, I’m very pleased and it is on to the next one.”