Thomas Frank relieved to avoid Gillingham repeat as Brentford win on penalties

Thomas Frank had flashbacks to a Carabao Cup nightmare after Brentford squeezed past Sheffield Wednesday on penalties to reach the quarter-finals.

The Bees have enjoyed success in this competition, having reached the last eight in three of the last five years and the semi-finals in 2021.

But they also suffered a penalty shoot-out defeat at home to League Two Gillingham following a 1-1 draw two seasons ago.

Brentford dominated the first half against Wednesday but only had Kevin Schade’s early strike to show for it.

“I said at half-time this could be like Gillingham,” said Frank. “It’s a reminder of the super focus we need to have.”

The Dane’s hunch was proved right when Djeidi Gassama levelled for Championship Wednesday with a spectacular 25-yard strike.

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken was at fault for that goal after making a mess of a throw in a bid to launch a counter-attack.

But Flekken made amends when he saved Liam Palmer’s spot-kick as Brentford won the shoot-out 5-4.

“I’m very happy to be on the end of the win and that we went through. That’s why it’s so difficult in these cups to progress all the way,” added Frank.

“We should have been up 2-0. But this time we had five good penalties and one good save.

“The only complaint is that we didn’t score a second goal in the first half. Second half, goal for them, suddenly it’s ‘what’s happening’?

“You know their players will come on and we know they will run through a brick wall. They worked incredibly hard, well organised.”

Frank had been heavily linked with the Manchester United job before Sporting Lisbon confirmed their approach for head coach Ruben Amorim.

“I think it’s nice for the ego, that someone recognises I’m part of something, but I’m not focusing too much on it,” he said, drawing a line under that particular saga.

“I have a big responsibility to this club and I love it here, and we are one step closer to some more incredible matches.”

Wednesday boss Danny Rohl made nine changes to his side and was proud of their efforts.

“An outstanding performance,” he said.

“We know it’s a hard place to come and Thomas and his side are doing really well in the Premier League.

“It was important at half-time to give the message that we need to improve small things and we did better in the second half and showed big character to stay in the game. We stayed in our match plan.

“All in all I take the draw after 90 minutes as a win for our team.”