Thomas Frank has his sights set on winning the Carabao Cup after Brentford survived an early scare to beat League One Leyton Orient 3-1 in the third round at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Bees reached the semi-finals during their Premier League promotion campaign in 2020-21 but victory over Orient, earned in part thanks to a stunning overhead-kick equaliser from summer signing Fabio Carvalho, means it is the first time in three years that they have made it as far as the fourth round.
Brentford have never won one of English football’s major honours but having comfortably eased past their third-tier opponents despite making eight changes from the team that lost to Manchester City on Saturday, Frank said he believed he has the resources to lead his side to Wembley.
“It depends on the strength of other clubs,” he said. “It’s been 11 years in a row of one of the top six winning it, so it’s difficult. But I think we’ve got enough depth in the squad.
“We just need to be less unlucky with injuries. Right now we have eight of our first-team players (out), normally you’d have two, three or maybe four. If it was only four then no problem. If we have them available, I think we have a strong squad.
“The aim is to go as far as possible and in the best case to win it. We played with great tempo and intensity. Big respect to (Orient), they started the game well, we couldn’t get on top of the game at 1-0.”
Orient defender Brandon Cooper stunned home supporters in west London when he arrived at the far post in the 11th minute to tap home Tom James’s low cross and hand the visitors a deserved lead.
Fears of a cup shock were quickly extinguished when Frank’s stand-ins hit back via a brilliant first goal for the club scored by Carvalho, before the former Liverpool player turned provider for Mikkel Damsgaard to head in the at the back post.
On the stroke of half-time Christian Norgaard rifled a lovely finish into the corner for 3-1, then Orient captain Jack Simpson was shown a second yellow card 20 minutes from time for hauling down Kevin Schade off the ball.
The game was notable for a stand-out display on his first home start from Carvalho, who registered a goal and an assist.
“He’s taking steps in the right direction in the last five, six weeks,” said Frank.
“Very pleased with what I saw from him today. Great goal, great assist. He’s growing into what I thought he would bring to us.”
Orient boss Richie Wellens reflected on a game in which Brentford’s Premier League quality ultimately proved too much for the team currently 22nd in League One.
“First half we were very good, took the lead, but gave a couple of very poor goals away,” he said.
“The difference is when (Brentford) get to the final third their runs are explosive. With us, it was pass-pass and we slowed it down too much.”
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Big GabrielSporting 1-5 Arsenal Who will win this month's Manager of the Month award? What happens when you come up against Saliba and Gabriel... Wayne Rooney, a true legend on and off the pitch. Cristiano Ronaldo in the iconic white and gold jersey brings back so many unforgettable memories! Throwback to THIS Beautiful Moment when Lionel Messi scored his 50th ca...
Bellingham admits 'vibrations' were key to Liverpool snubJude Bellingham has revealed how close he came to joining Liverpool, and the "vibrations" he felt when Real Madrid came calling."It wasn't as close as it was said," Bellingham said ahead of Real's Champions League clash with Liverpool. "There were conversations. There was Dortmund and I did it with several clubs. When Real Madrid call you, t...
Manchester City's Champions League match on Tuesday night was marred by crowd trouble, with Feyenoord fans causing chaos at the Etihad Stadium. The Dutch supporters, escorted by police from the city centre to the stadium, filled all three tiers of the South Stand.After City scored three goals, Feyenoord managed to net one with about 15 minutes left, leading to riot police stepping in to prevent cl...
Liverpool boss Arne Slot insists Mohamed Salah isn't unsettled over his contract situation.After scoring twice in victory at Southampton on Sunday, Salah revealed he had not heard from management about a new deal. His current contract expires in June."The only thing I can say is, if I look at my line-ups, Mo is more in than out," said Slot."I don't think he's distracted at all. I haven't seen that...
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said he doesn't fully understand how the new Champions League format worked after his team earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday to improve their chances of reaching the knockout stage.Bayern needed a first-half goal from defender Kim Min-Jae to battle past 10-man PSG and claim a third win in five matches."I don't look at the table...
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. The reason why Man City lost 5 matches in a row Erling Haaland lol Cucuruku Cook that thing… This The Man United cycle. This Please stay tuned on Daily Laugh. There will be more fun tomorrow!(Credit: Justtoonit, originaltrollfootball, FootballLaughss, PL__OOC)...
The Portuguese has promised to not sign any Sporting CP stars in the winter window.However, all bets are off in the summer, with A Bola stating that Geovany Quenda is the main target.United are said to be preparing an offer of £50M plus bonuses to secure the young winger.Amorim can use Quenda in either wing-back position, while he is also capable of playing in the front three.Another player U...
The Algerian's contract expires in the summer of 2026 and he is believed to be eyeing a move away from Molineux.Rayan Ait-Nouri is wanted by Man UtdThat has put United are on red alert for a player as Amorim has made signing a left-back a priority.He wants to boost his options give Luke Shaw's injury record.Shaw could also eventually move into the back-three once the former Sporting Lisbon manager...
Mohamed Salah has said he is yet to receive a formal contract offer from Liverpool, adding that he is "more out than in" regarding whether he will stay at the club next season.Salah, whose contract is set to expire next summer, has enjoyed an impressive individual campaign, having scored 12 goals in all competitions this term, including a brace in Liverpool's 3-2 comeback win over Southampton on S...
Real Madrid monitoring Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite🚨👀 #Branthwaite is attracting the attention of 🇪🇺 top clubs.📃 #RealMadrid included the CB in their list of potential January targets, while 🏴 teams continue to monitor him ahead of June.💰 #Everton would like to keep him but are also open to evaluating bids >€70m. 🐓⚽ pic.twitter.com/5lpoomMdyp— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) Novem...
- 1 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 2 Ex-Prem ace asked Liverpool star for his sister's phone number
- 3 Chelsea make Nkunku sale call amid ManUtd interest
- 4 Daily Laugh - Antony and his latest ManUtd session
- 5 Chloe Kelly sends fans wild in daring outfit at GQ Men of the Year
- 6 €60-70m could bring star to Liverpool or Man Utd
- 7 Mascherano nears Miami; Martino exits
- 8 Mia Khalifa slams rumours of 'affair with ex-Prem star Julian Alvarez'
- 9 Amorim targets Sporting Lisbon's Quenda
- 10 Former Premier League star saved his wife and baby from house fire