Keith Andrews insists there is no crisis of confidence in his Brentford side after Monday night’s defeat by Manchester United took their winless run to seven matches in all competitions.
The Bees are slowly falling off the pace in the race to qualify for the Champions League and sit ninth in the table with four matches left to play after Matthias Jensen’s wondergoal at Old Trafford was cancelled out by Casemiro and Benjamin Sesko.
While the scoreline ultimately read in United’s favour, Brentford’s performance was largely positive. They took the fight to their hosts after going behind and continued to push for an equaliser until the final whistle blew.
It was unsurprising, then, that Andrews hit back at the suggestion his team was lacking self-belief, with their most recent win an increasingly distant memory.
“I saw a lot of confidence tonight,” he declared. “I saw personality, a team that is doing everything it can to get results.
“There is absolute belief in everything we do. We are not playing safe, I don't want us to be that team. We set up in a brave fashion against a top team tonight and unfortunately we couldn't quite get there.”
The Bees have a tricky run-in, with Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Liverpool all still to play.
But Andrews insists he saw promising signs in his side’s performance, despite being ‘bitterly disappointed’ to lose.
He continued: “I thought we were outstanding for large parts of the game but we couldn't take our opportunities.
“As a collective we went toe-to-toe with a good side and controlled large parts of the game. They were more clinical than us.
“We controlled nearly all of the second half. The belief and the courage we played with created opportunities but unfortunately we could only take one of those. It came a tad too late but we kept going in every aspect of the game. The boys gave everything.
“Anyone that watches us will see we are a team with a lot of spirit. We have a nice click around the group. We fight hard but you have to earn results in this division. We have been on a really food journey this year that allows us to come to a ground like this and play in that manner.”
