‘If anything happens off the pitch, you’re still focused’: Brentford boss Thomas Frank hails Ivan Toney’s ‘laser focus’ as he brushes aside his impending gambling offences ban to score from the spot in win over fulham
Brentford manager Thomas Frank praised the “one and only” Ivan Toney after the striker’s latest dazzling display.
Toney hit the mark again as Brentford furthered their bid for Europe by winning a spirited West London derby 3-2 against Fulham.
The striker raised his tally for the season to 16 with another penalty which helped sink the Bees’ local rival.
Unfortunately for Brentford and Toney, if they succeed in their unlikely quest to reach the Europa League, they may have to enter without their talisman.
As exclusively revealed by Sportsmail, Toney faces the prospect of a lengthy suspension after pleading guilty to most of 262 charges of alleged breaches of the Football Association’s gambling laws dating back to 2017.
Thomas Frank (right) hailed Ivan Toney as ‘unique’ (left) after his latest dazzling display at Brentford
Toney scored from the spot in Brentford’s 3-2 win over Fulham on Monday night.
Toney’s performance comes as he faces the prospect of a lengthy ban on the gambling charges.
But as he promised this week in a social media post questioning the confidentiality of the FA inquiry, Toney is concentrating on his football.
As well as another successful penalty, Toney hit the bar on a free kick, attempted a raucous shot from the halfway line that went just over the top and almost landed a daring pass from the back.
The Brentford striker said he was ‘disturbed’ by the reports in a statement on social media.
“I think it says a lot about his ability to have laser focus,” Frank said.
It’s not a coincidence. His ability to focus is quite unique. He never goes out.
“If something is happening off the pitch, he’s still focused.”
It was sweet revenge for the Bees after losing by the same scoreline to a last-minute strike from Aleksandar Mitrovic at Craven Cottage in August.
Frank added: ‘Of course it’s special. I told the players that this is the biggest derby for us.
“It’s more special against Fulham, in recent years we’ve had a lot of interesting games so of course it means something extra.”
Brentford led through Ethan Pinnock’s deflected shot after six minutes and should have been out of sight before Fulham leveled against late play thanks to Manor Solomon’s fifth goal in five matches.
But Toney converted his penalty after Issa Diop was ruled to have fouled Christian Norgaard, and Mathias Jensen scored the third before substitute Carlos Vinicius saved one in stoppage time.
However, Frank (left) was full of praise for his talismanic striker in the West London derby.
Fulham remain in the European hunt, but boss Marco Silva said: “It was a disappointing night for us.” A disappointing performance too, I have to say.
‘They scored early in the game and early in the second half, but to be honest it was our fault. You can’t start a derby away from home like we did.
We were sloppy in the way we started the first half and the second half. We show a reaction to call but when they are winning they put nine players around their box. Is not easy.
“The penalty was a very tough decision by the referee. It was a big surprise for me, but it was our fault.