Brentford boss Keith Andrews has been speaking to the media before Saturday’s Premier League game against Tottenham at the Gtech Community Stadium (kick-off 17:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On whether fans will see any debuts for new signings: “I’d anticipate so. We’ve obviously got four players in from other clubs. We’re really happy with the business we’ve done, really happy with the impact they’ve made both on the pitch and off the pitch in the period of pre-season and how that’s grown and developed. I have no doubt that you’ll see some of them.”
On the signing of Mamadou Sangare: “Pretty easy decision. He’s a very talented midfielder who can do lots of aspects of that role. That’s on the football side of things. Having met him it was an even easier decision. He’s a very focused, very determined, very ambitious young man, very humble but equally as hungry to achieve really impressive things in his career. He’s certainly a player on an upwards trajectory.”
When asked about Sangare’s best position: “I just think he’s a midfield player. There’s a lot of pigeonholing that goes on in the game. His attributes, we’ve seen it closely. What he was able to do at Lens in different positions, in different systems, etc. He’s an all-round midfielder for me.”
And more generally on transfers: “I’m really happy. The squad is in a good place. We knew where we were last season. We knew we were keen to add in certain areas. We got some of that pretty early. Jannik [Schuster] is a young centre back, done really well at Salzburg. Two Premier League ready players with a lot of experience with Callum [Wilson] and Jaidon Anthony and obviously we’ve already touched on Mamadou [Sangare]. So yes, we’re really content with the business we’ve done.”
When asked about Keane Lewis-Potter playing at left-back: “He’s played [there] in pre-season to develop him a little bit more. We’ve got really good players in that position. Keano plays in a different way. There’s versatility to his game. Do I see him only playing there? Probably not, no.”
On expectations this season: “It’s a different pressure. It was a different type of feel from 12 months ago to now. Now, the expectations are slightly different to 12 months ago. I’m OK with that. I think we proved what we’re capable of last year. I want us to be an ambitious team but that is not to lose sight of what has to get you results.”
Andrews confirmed Sepp Van Den Berg will miss the first few weeks of the season through injury, Antoni Milambo is in group training and making “really good strides” and Kay Furo is set for B team minutes on Friday having recovered from a slight knock recently.
On Fabio Carvalho: “Great to have him back. He looks really sharp, smooth, the way he’s moving. He looks confident.”
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