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There remains no timescale on Josh Dasilva’s return from the hip injury he sustained in February, with head coach Thomas Frank indiciating that the midfielder could be out for several more months. The former Arsenal youth player, 22, has not featured since coming off an hour into a 2-1 win against Stoke City on February 27. He has spent most of the past six months on crutches and, with the issue more serious than initially thought, the club’s medical staff are not willing to put a date on an expected return.
Thomas Frank said: “That’s a longer one. I can’t put a specific number of weeks or months on it. It’s just a longer one.”
In better news for the West London club, the Denmark international Mathias Jensen has returned to training this week having injured a foot during the Euro 2020 semi-final defeat to England. He will not be fit enough to feature against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon but Brentford have no fresh injury concerns for the trip to Selhurst Park.
Thomas Frank said: “He’s better. He trained partly with the group, which is good, but is out for Saturday’s game.”
Dasilva and Jensen would both feature in Brentford’s strongest XI but Frank was impressed by how Vitaly Janelt and Frank Onyeka performed either side of Christian Norgaard in their opening night win over Arsenal.
Thomas Frank added: “If everyone was fit, most likely, there’s a big chance both of them would have started. It is fantastic to have Vitaly and Frank doing an unbelievable job. And Christian of course. We need strength in depth and to have different types. It was good to have the types of Frank and Vita as two pressing machines. They are constantly going, they must be a nightmare to play against. They were a big, big part of why we were successful on Friday night.”
The midfield is expected to remain the same versus Palace, while new signing Yoane Wissa could feature out wide at some point after another week of training since sealing a move from Lorient. But Frank is unsure what to expect from Palace in Patrick Vieira’s second competitive game in charge and Brentford’s task may have been easier if they were coming up against a team managed by the former Arsenal midfielder’s predecessor Roy Hodgson.
Thomas Frank said: “Yes, especially being the second game of the season. We watched all their pre-season games. It’s difficult to know what to expect completely. We also followed a little bit what he did in Nice for an idea of the style of play but we can’t be sure of the approach to the game or the system. That makes it a little bit more tricky to make a clear performance and preparation. But we prepare for different scenarios and systems in the week leading up to the game. We’re prepared for it. In the Championship we’ve experienced it a lot. We prepare for 4-4-2, then face 3-5-2. We know that 75 minutes before the kick off. We need to be adaptable and ready to react from what we see on the team sheet.”
