‘Fearless’ Bees are ready for Wembley
Brentford manager Uwe Rosler says there is no prospect of his players freezing on the big occasion at Wembley in the League One play-off final on Sunday.
The club have never won the play-offs in six attempts and produced a dismal display in the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy two years ago.
But the current Bees side will have every reason to feel confident when they take on Yeovil for a place in the Championship.
This season they have given Chelsea a scare in the FA Cup and prevailed on penalties in a dramatic play-off showdown with Swindon, having recovered from missing out on automatic promotion by the narrowest of margins.
It suggests Brentford’s young players will rise to the challenge this weekend.
“These players are fearless. I don’t believe they will freeze,” Rosler declared.
“The Chelsea games massively helped us and the Doncaster game as well. It was a shoot-out and there was a big build-up – more than for the Wembley game.
“It was a good experience against Chelsea, not so good against Doncaster – crazy things happened and we were three inches from automatic promotion.
“Then to get yourself up again for a two-legger and coming through that when all the odds were against us and everyone thought we would lose.
“That sort of experience will help us at Wembley. This team never knows when to give up.”
A victory against the Glovers would put Brentford into the second tier for the first time in 20 years.
And it would complete a remarkable season under Rosler, who this week took his players to Wembley to sample the iconic stadium ahead of the big game.
He explained: “It definitely helped. Now we will focus on our performance and not on the occasion.
“It was wise to go there as the manager, his staff and most of the players haven’t been there.
“So we could look around, take our pictures, but come Sunday we will mean business.
“It’s difficult to tell players it is a normal game. I don’t really believe they should think that. Everyone knows what is at stake.
“But I know my players. They played at Stamford Bridge and for 70 minutes played one hell of a game against Chelsea, so I can’t see them freezing.
“Both teams will be a bit nervous but I don’t think we will freeze. We are prepared physically and tactically. We are confident going into the game.”
Follow West London Sport on Twitter
Find us on Facebook
