The Bees are looking for a first successful play-off in 10, but expect fine margins to be key against Swansea at Wembley
Thomas Frank had not long finished wagging an index finger at ecstatic Brentford supporters on a victory lap last weekend – the message being that they are still one game from the Premier League – when the million-dollar question, or, in this case, £178m question, was put to him pitchside: how do you guarantee getting over the line this time? “One thing is for sure,” he replied, “I can’t make sure of anything, because this is football.”
That absurd game was categorical evidence of that. Frank booted a bin in fury as Bournemouth bounced into a two-goal aggregate lead inside five minutes before Chris Mepham’s sending-off helped Brentford wrestle the tie in their favour. Amid the bedlam that followed Marcus Forss’s winner, Ivan Toney tried to chuck what he presumed was a bucket of water over his teammates but inadvertently showered himself in disinfectant meant for the match balls.
