The Sky Blues host Brentford at St Andrew’s on Saturday lunchtime live on Sky Sports. Here’s everything you need to know about our opponents.
Fact file
Name: Brentford
Founded: 1889
Stadium: Brentford Community Stadium (first opened 2020)
Capacity: 17,250
Nickname: The Bees
Address: 27 Great West Road, Brentford, TW8 9BW
Pitch Size: 110 x 73 yards
The Opposition
Brentford are currently second in the Championship table, one point behind league leaders Norwich City, as they attempt to secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.
The Bees top scorer is Ivan Toney who has found the net on 24 occasions this season whilst also providing nine assists with Josh Dasilva and Marcus Forss having scored seven goals respectively.
The capital club recently saw their 21-game unbeaten run in the league come to an end, following back-to-back defeats against Barnsley and QPR, but remain the division’s highest scoring team with 56 strikes so far this campaign.
Manager
Thomas Frank was appointed as Brentford head coach in October 2018, succeeding Dean Smith in the Griffin Park hotseat having been assistant head coach to the current Villa boss for the previous couple of seasons.
Frank managed Denmark’s youth sides from under-16 through to under-19 level before moving into his first role in club management with Danish Superliga side Brondby IF in June 2013.
He guided the club to consecutive top four finishes in the league, securing a place in the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds, but left Brondby in March 2016 after receiving criticism from the club’s chairman, under a pseudonym, on an online supporters’ forum.
After taking charge at Brentford, Frank led the Bees to an 11th place finish in his first season in charge, before achieving a third-place finish last term, missing out on promotion to the Premier League by two points after losing their final two matches of the season before then suffering defeat in the play-off final.
With Brentford, Frank has managed 127 matches recording 60 wins, 29 draws and 38 defeats.
Last Six Games
Lost – QPR 2-1 Brentford (Sky Bet Championship)
Lost – Brentford 0-2 Barnsley (Sky Bet Championship)
Won – Reading 1-3 Brentford (Sky Bet Championship)
Won – Middlesbrough 1-4 Brentford (Sky Bet Championship)
Won – Brentford 3-2 Bristol City (Sky Bet Championship)
Won – Brentford 7-2 Wycombe (Sky Bet Championship)
Last Time We Met
The two sides last met earlier this season when the Sky Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat in their first match at the Brentford Community Stadium.
City keeper Marko Marosi made an excellent save to deny Ivan Toney’s swerving effort early on before then keeping out Pontus Jansson’s close range strike from the resulting corner.
Sky Blues midfielder Ben Sheaf forced Brentford keeper David Raya into a save at his near post from a tight angle before Toney put the hosts in front when he turned in Bryan Mbeumo’s cross early in the second period.
Brentford doubled their lead when Toney headed home his second of the game from Emiliano Marcondes’ cross to take the game out of City’s reach.
Mark Robins side almost pulled a goal back when Matty Godden’s half volley hit the crossbar and bounced down onto the line before seeing a second effort held by Raya.
Head-to-Head Record
Sky Blues Wins – 22
Draws – 11
Brentford Wins – 23
Club Connections
Bill Glazier
Sky Blues Hall of Famer Bill Glazier made almost 400 appearances for the club before spending one season with Brentford.
Glazier began his career with Crystal Palace and made over 100 appearances for the Eagles as well as winning promotion from the Third Division during his spell in the capital.
He signed for the Sky Blues in October 1964 for a then world record fee for a goalkeeper under the management of Jimmy Hill and helped the club win the Second Division title in 1966/67.
The keeper remained a regular fixture in the Sky Blues side over the next decade and was rewarded with a testimonial match against an England 1966 World Cup XI, having made 392 appearances for the club.
He also won the club’s Player of the Year award on two occasions before moving to Brentford in August 1975, then playing in the Fourth Division, and made 12 appearances for the Bees, finishing his career in the United States with St. Louis Stars.
John Salako
Former England international John Salako spent three seasons with the Sky Blues before finishing his career with the Bees.
Salako made his name during a nine-year spell with his first club Crystal Palace, making over 200 appearances for the Eagles and twice winning promotion from the First Division.
He also featured for the Selhurst Park club in the 1990 FA Cup final, losing in a replay to Manchester United, before departing the club in the summer of 1995 to join the Sky Blues.
The midfielder made 85 appearances for City over the next three seasons, scoring eight goals, as well as taking in a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers.
He achieved promotion with each of his next three clubs, helping Fulham win the Second Division, Charlton Athletic win the First Division and also earned promotion out of the Second Division with Reading.
The five-cap England international finished his career with Brentford, scoring four goals in 35 appearances during his one season at Griffin Park.
Match Officials
Stephen Martin will be the man in the middle on Saturday lunchtime, taking charge of his 23rd game of the 2020/21 season.
He last refereed the Sky Blues back in September last year when City secured a 3-2 win against QPR at St Andrew’s.
This will be Martin’s 10th season as a Football League referee and he has officiated the Sky Blues on seven previous occasions, with City winning four, drawing two and losing one of those matches.
So far, Martin has awarded 52 yellow cards and two red cards across 22 matches in the Championship, League One, League Two, Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
He will be assisted by Adam Crysell and Matthew McGrath with Oliver Langford acting as fourth official.