Frank relieved after vital Brentford win

Thomas Frank admitted he was relieved to see his Brentford side get the win against already-relegated Ipswich.

A first-half header from Kevin Schade earned the Bees a fourth consecutive victory as they attempt to qualify for European football for the first time.

They were reliant on goalkeeper Mark Flekken to earn all three points at Portman Road, as he saved well from both Omari Hutchinson and Cameron Burgess in the closing stages.

“I’m always relieved after a game where we win,” said boss Frank

“It was exactly as difficult as I expected it to be. I said before the game that I have huge respect for Kieran McKenna and his staff, the Ipswich players and the club. I also said it could be the most difficult of our last three games.

“Clearly, Kieran and his players wanted to keep fighting and pushing. They gave everything. The home crowd was fantastic, so it was difficult.

“I liked the way we came out. First 10 minutes we came out and it was us; controlled, dominating and being on top. The first half I felt we were in control but maybe not fully dominant.

“Second half, control until the last five minutes. We were winning the ball high and lacked one touch or one pass or one dribble past a player to create big moments to kill the game.

“We unfortunately couldn’t do that and at the end it’s always going to be a little bit hectic, and we needed a big save from Mark to get over the line.”

A tense game was punctuated by lengthy delays because of VAR checks.

Brentford were denied a penalty just before Schade scored, as the ball was adjudged to not have been in play as Ipswich’s Jacob Greaves grappled with Sepp Van den Berg at a corner.

And there was another stoppage after the interval as VAR looked over a coming-together between Nathan Collins and Axel Tuanzebe in the Ipswich penalty area.

Ipswich head coach McKenna suggested after the game that VAR in its current guise “adds nothing” to the game, and Frank was sympathetic towards referee Samuel Barrott.

Frank said: “It’s tough for the refs. I must admit I’m happy I’m not a ref in those situations.

“Both teams are very physical [when] defending. We need to look into it and see if there’s anything we can change there because it’s getting more and more difficult.

“You want the teams to defend aggressively, but when is it too much?”