Thomas Frank heaped praise on Wycombe Wanderers, after his Brentford side were held to a frustrating goalless draw by the Championship new-boys at Adams Park.
Unbeaten in four league games ahead of the clash, the Bees were hoping to replicate the sort of form that saw them emerge 5-2 winners in the teams’ last league meeting in 2012, but the hosts held firm with a solid defensive showing.
Bryan Mbuemo had a 28th minute shot brilliantly saved by Wycombe goalkeeper Ryan Allsop and Jay Dasilva went close late on, as last season’s beaten play-off finalists were forced to settle for a draw - their fifth so far this season.
And having seen Brentford stopper David Raya called upon to deny David Wheeler and Daryl Horgan in the second half as the Chairboys looked to snatch victory, Frank lauded Gareth Ainsworth’s men for a determined display that puts them to within a point of safety.
“Wycombe did a good job and they deserve some praise,” the 47-year-old said. “They pressed us well and played with good intensity throughout the game.
“In the first half we managed to get behind them and create chances that could have got us the all-important goal. But we weren’t clinical enough, and that was a combination of Wycombe doing well, and us not being composed enough in the final third.
“We didn’t make it a quick game. They managed to make it slow, but it’s up to us to up the tempo in all aspects of the game and we could have done that better.
“We now look ahead to Barnsley on Tuesday. They will also come to press us, so the main thing is that we need to do better on the ball and add more quality, especially in the final third.”
📺 A point on the road
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) November 22, 2020
The key moments from Adams Park with @SimplexityTM#BrentfordFC #WYCBRE pic.twitter.com/vWNc9CzadE
The stalemate in Buckinghamshire leaves Brentford 11th in the Championship table, five points off the play-off places and a further one behind the coveted automatic promotion spots.
Victory over the Tykes - who are on a run of back-to-back successes - would serve as a big boost to the West Londoners’ hopes of progression to the Premier League in 2020/21.
Midfielder Mathias Jensen added: “We came to Wycombe for the three points and didn’t manage to get them, so naturally we’re disappointed.
“They like dragging the time and playing long balls, so it’s hard to get into the places we wanted. The pitch was very dry as well, but there are no excuses - we should have been better.
“We kept a clean sheet though which is encouraging. I think we created the chances we needed - we had two or three that we should’ve taken - so there are positives to take going forward.”
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