Brentford not yet dreaming of Europa League as new signing Kevin Schade backed to shine

Vitaly Janelt insists that Brentford are not yet dreaming of Europe, despite the Premier League now being the Bees’ sole focus following Saturday’s FA Cup exit against West Ham.

Janelt came off the bench as Thomas Frank’s much-changed side were knocked out by Said Benrahma’s late strike in wretched conditions at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The defeat was in contrast to the Bees’ sensational form in the League, with their last four matches bringing victories over Manchester City, West Ham and Liverpool, as well as a draw against Tottenham.

The win over Liverpool a week ago briefly saw the west Londoners climb into seventh, after which Frank told fans they were welcome to dream of European football next season.

“Starting with the City game, no one expected that we would win away there and against Liverpool at home,” midfielder Janelt said. “But obviously we did. It shows the quality of the team.

"It's not about dreaming about the Europa League. We'll take it and everyone will be happy but for me it's about being realistic. We've only played half the season.”

Results since have seen Brentford slip to ninth, but they remain just two points behind sixth-placed Liverpool and have a favourable run of fixtures coming up, with struggling Southampton and Bournemouth visiting the Gtech either side of a trip to Leeds.

"You can win against City but lose against a team bottom of the league,” Janelt added. "We're in a good position but we go game to game. We've got to focus on the league. As soon as we get to 40 points, everyone knows we've a free hit for the next games and play with no pressure.”

German forward Kevin Schade made his Bees debut as a second-half substitute against the Hammers, just days after arriving from Freiburg, initially on loan in a deal that will become permanent for a club-record £21million in the summer.

The 21-year-old impressed and Janelt, who knows countryman Schade from his time playing in his homeland, believes the cameo will prove a sign of things to come.

“He’s a very good guy and you can see his quality even though he only played 20 minutes, you can see his ability,” Janelt added. “He has a lot of pace and it’ll be interesting to see who is quicker between Rico Henry and him. He jumps high, he’s very quick and hopefully he can score goals for us.

“[Brentford] try to develop young players. Now, it’s bit different to two years ago when they were signing players like me and some other players when they paid a little amount of money. Now you’re talking about £20million-plus and I’m sure it’s not easy for them as well, to find the right balance. Let’s see and I think it's what we’ll do in the future as well.”