Brentford head coach Thomas Frank believes his side put down a statement as they secured third in the Championship with a 2-0 win over second-placed Watford. 

Marcus Forss scored just 53 seconds into the second half and Ivan Toney equalled the Championship record with his 30th goal of the season to guarantee a third-placed finish for the second successive campaign. 

Of course, the job is not done yet as the Bees bid to gain promotion to the Premier League in the play-offs – having lost last season’s play-off final to Fulham. 

But Frank asserts that whatever happens in the remainder of the season, another third-placed finish represents a huge achievement for the club. 

“I’m very pleased with the performance,” Frank said. 

“I thought it was a good game and we were very aggressive with our pressure throughout the game. 

“I liked that everything we did was forwards. I’m very pleased that we’re now third, I think that’s a statement. 

“We all know that there is only one thing that we want to achieve this season and that is to get promoted, but we need to look at the bigger perspective. 

“Finishing third twice in a row in the Championship is remarkable for a club of our size.” 

Victory made it 11 unbeaten for Brentford, who will be rueing their high count of 15 draws in seeing automatic promotion slip away. 

Nevertheless, another confident performance against Watford bodes well for the play-offs – with a goalless first half edged by the home side. 

And Brentford then turned that advantage into a goal when Forss slotted in Sergi Canos’ cross in the 46th minute. 

On the hour-mark, Toney then levelled the league goal record from the penalty spot, having been fouled by Francisco Sierralta in the box. 

Glenn Murray previously hit the 30 mark with Crystal Palace in the 2012/13 season and Toney now has an away fixture with Bristol City left on the final day of the season to try and break the record. 

“That was about time, I think he’s been a bit slow lately,” Frank added jokingly. 

“It was really good to see him get that goal number 30 and it meant a lot to him, and a lot to the team. 

“We know it’s about the team’s success always, but when there’s these individual remarkable milestones then I’m really pleased to see how the team celebrated. 

“I think that shows a lot about our togetherness. 

“We are in a good place, in good form and we look very solid.”