Andrews admits Brentford were below par

Keith Andrews admitted Brentford were short of their best against Tottenham.

The Bees lost 2-0 in their first match against Spurs since former boss Thomas Frank left to take over at the north London club.

Andrews has presided over some encouraging performances since replacing Frank as head coach, but his team were very much second best as goals from Richarlison and Xavi Simons gave the hosts the points.

It eased the pressure on Frank – Spurs have been poor at home under him but were clearly determined to put that right against his former club.

Andrews said: “We need to own it. In the first half we didn’t hit the levels we had, and we came up against a team that upped their level from what I had seen.”

Igor Thiago, restored to the starting line-by Andrews after being a substitute in the midweek defeat at Arsenal, had a couple of chances, but Brentford’s Caoimhín Kelleher was the busier keeper.

“Overall, I’ve been very happy with as the season’s panned out and we’ve grown as a team,” Andrews said.

“The performance levels have been pretty consistent, even when results have fallen one way or the other. Today we didn’t play particularly well in the first half.”