Brentford boss Keith Andrews spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Here are the main points of his press conference:
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Andrews said the club was “still dusting everything off” since the win against Sunderland Wednesday, but the return of Dango Ouattara benefited from “a few extra days off” to recover from the African Cup of Nations.
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On his team’s rotation after a busy schedule: “What I can guarantee is that we take this game seriously. We took the League Cup very seriously, we got to the quarter-finals and were beaten by Manchester Cityand the same approach will be taken towards the FA Cup. It’s a competition that I really enjoy.”
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Teenage winger Romelle Donovan is in with a parting shout against the Championship strugglers: “Romelle is definitely in contention. He’s training very well overall and I like a lot of his qualities. He was probably a bit unlucky not to get minutes in the Premier League. I expect Romelle to get some minutes this weekend.”
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Andrews also suggested that forward Reiss Nelson was fit to start again: “Reiss came back suddenly during the December period. He came back into the fold and probably isn’t ready to start games, but he’s getting closer with the minutes he’s earned. We’ll get Reiss, and the team in general, back into the flow as the games become more and more weekly starting this Saturday. Reiss will definitely be involved this weekend.”
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With Igor Thiago’s five goals in two matches putting him second among the league’s top scorers, Andrews said his striker must be close to a first national call-up: “He’s been immense with the way he’s followed our mantra of our number nine and the way he’s led the line constantly evolving his game to become a complete centre-forward. He always gives defenders a hard time. It’s not my place to pick Carlo Ancelotti’s team (for Brazil). He knows what he is doing but he knows Thiago and his abilities well and if Thiago continues as he is doing, it will put him in a very good position.
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The 24-year-old picked up a knock against Sunderland and hugged Andrews in a long hug as he was substituted: “(I told him) ‘I have to look after you’. He’s valuable to us. It’s the first time he’s been in a game, a game, a game, and in a short space of time. We’ve kind of looked after him and nurtured him throughout the season.”
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He added: “So when he got that blow, it was always in my mind to take care of him and take the lead the whole game. But when he has two goals, obviously he’s looking at back-to-back hat-tricks. And I know the way he’s set up, so it was always a tough dilemma. So I just had to make that decision, which obviously wasn’t entirely popular with him. But I think he understood it.”
Listen to BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 from 3:00 p.m. GMT on Saturday
