Thomas Frank eased relegation fears with talk of a full squad for Saturday’s crunch game against Newcastle following Brentford’s 2-1 defeat at the Emirates. 

Christian Nørgaard’s injury time strike flattered the Bees who were instantly under siege, relying on defensive heroics from Kristoffer Ajer and Pontus Jansson to repel 16 shots before the interval – a record this season.

After the break Frank ordered his men to push up and press, but this only gifted the Gunners the space they craved, with sublime counter-attacking finishes from Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka settling the encounter. 

Brentford are now on their longest winless run since 2018 and the resurgent Magpies could leapfrog them in their upcoming clash, leaving the Bees in sight of the drop with both Watford and Burnley winning on the weekend. 

Frank said: “I’m very aware we haven’t got that many points lately, I think there’s a lot of reasons for that but the positive is that we have a fully fit squad available soon and that will help us.
 
“It’s one game at a time, we need to focus on ourselves, that’s what we’ve done for the last three years and we must make sure we do things better going into the next game.

“Every team in the Premier League, if you are in the bottom 10, has spells like this.”

Ivan Toney was especially missed, his tweet: ‘nice kick about with the boys’ after the reverse fixture’s 2-0 victory now ancient history, and Alexandre Lacazette’s revenge post of the same words with a wink underlined the change in fortunes of the London clubs. 

Brentford have only beaten Villa in their last ten league games, and while recent defeats have included admirable defensive efforts against City, Liverpool and Man United, the Bees' lack of threat has proved their undoing.

The poise of star signing Christian Eriksen may provide the answer, with all eyes on the Dane in his hopeful debut against Newcastle, who are much improved since the sides shared the points in a six-goal Tyneside thriller – unbeaten in their last six.

Frank said: “The two decisive situations were transitions where we were going one way and they were going the other because we didn’t handle those duals well enough.

“The big thing is composure and coolness on the ball, putting these two passes together to progress up the pitch and get a set piece and be a bigger threat.

“That is the foundation that has put us in this position and on the offensive side we need to do better, I know we’re defending and running a lot but I know what these boys are capable of.”