Brentford boss Thomas Frank believes Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over an in-form Barnsley side is testament to how the Bees have matured this season.

Ivan Toney was the match-winner once again for Frank’s side as the striker netted his 11th goal of the Championship season with a header from a Mathias Jensen corner just after the hour mark.

The win at Oakwell sees Brentford extend their unbeaten run to six league games, and moves them within two points of the playoff spots ahead of Wednesday night’s action. 

And Frank believes his side’s performance, in which they restricted the Tykes to just one shot on target in the 90 minutes, is proof of how much they have progressed from their slow start to the season.

“It’s one of these wins that should give all of us a real boost and confidence that we have a really strong team,” the Bees boss said.

“I think it was a very mature performance against an in form team in Barnsley, I think they’ve been looking brilliant when we’ve looked at their last five games. 

“We kept them to zero chances, we created the chances we needed, and we scored a top set-piece. 

“I think we showed the mentality where we raised the bar from being patient in the first half where we maybe struggled to create a chance, but look how hard Barnsley worked throughout the game.

“Keeping that patience and that matureness is really a good sign, and something we will take forward.” 

Toney was the hero once again for the Bees on Tuesday night, with his goals already directly contributing to 12 points of his side’s total so far this campaign. 

It was a match that the visitors dominated in Yorkshire, with Bryan Mbeumo and Josh Dasilva both going close in the first half, with Jack Walton having to be alert in the hosts’ goal. 

But for all their plaudits about their dynamic attacking play, Frank was keen to focus on the resolute defensive work of his side, as they shut Barnsley out over 90 minutes. 

The clean sheet was goalkeeper David Raya’s fourth in his last five league games, and the resolute performance of his back line is what pleased Frank most from the midweek affair.

“That was the one biggest thing that we improved the most last year, and I would say the first seven this year were not up to our standards,” the Dane said.

“But four clean sheets in the last five, and undefeated in six games, that shows we are very difficult to play against, but of course we need to work hard on the offensive side of it. 

“We need to be proud that every single club are putting their best performance out against us, because they know if they give us time on the ball they can struggle.”