Brentford’s Thomas Frank awaits news on crucial player Kevin Schade, who suffered an injury during their 1-1 draw with West Ham.
Schade was knocked down early in the second half and withdrawn in the 60th minute.
The club is already dealing with the absence of six key players who would surely make the starting lineup, including Rico Henry, Christian Norgaard, Mathias Jensen, and Aaron Hickey, and Thomas Frank is now hopeful that the three-time Germany international’s problems were only a cramp.
Speaking to the media after Saturday’s full-time, the Bees head coach stated of Schade’s injury: “We don’t know why, but it was a cramp. We’ll look into it; I believe he was a threat. We have nothing left to shoot with after that. We don’t have any attacking subs to help us move forward, and they’re starting (Crysencio) Summerville, a Greek international, and a Spanish international.”
With so many key players out of action, the west London club is experiencing déjà vu. Brentford were hindered by injury previous season, with Bryan Mbeumo, Hickey, Josh Dasilva, and Mikkel Damsgaard all missing games.
The team was also without England international Ivan Toney for eight months, as the 28-year-old served an FA penalty for breaking betting rules. When asked if he believed the team was likely to experience a similar fate as their 2023/24 squad tragedies, Frank replied, “I’m positive, no.”
The Danish head coach was then asked how near the other athletes in the medical room were to returning to action. Defensive midfielder Nordgaard has been out with a slight knee injury, but the Bees manager has confirmed that he is very close to returning.
“He was close”, Frank confirmed. “but either you play, so it didn’t make sense to have him on the bench. If he’s there, he’s starting. But I’m confident there’s a good chance for next week. A lot I am hopeful will be available in a week’s time.”
As to Rico Henry, who was out for the majority of last season after sustaining an ACL injury, Frank commented: “It is progressing in the right way. He had a minor, minor set-back about three four weeks ago but he’s on track. He’s running on the pitch again so hopefully not too long.”
