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Christian Norgaard limped off in the second half of the Brentford meeting with Crystal Palace.
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Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham could be handed a boost ahead of facing Brentford in the coming weeks with the West London club handed a fresh injury concern in their 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Bryan Mbeumo and Kevin Schade were on the scoresheet for the Bees at Selhurst Park on Sunday, with Crystal Palace debutant Romain Esse tapping in a late consolation from the hosts. It was only a second away Premier League win of the season for Brentford.
Reacting to the result, Frank said: “It’s a big three points…against a very good team that I like and I admire a lot, under very difficult circumstances. I think, except that [Palace] goal, we gave more or less nothing away against a very tricky and good front three.
“So, pleased with the good, solid away performance and I think it’s a fair win in the end.”
Christian Norgaard injury concern
However, among the celebrations is one cause for concern for Thomas Frank. The ever-influential Christian Norgaard limped off after 54 minutes to be replaced by Mathias Jensen.
The Dane missed two matches earlier this season due to injury but is a key player for the Bees having started 20 of the 23 league fixtures this term. Should Norgaard require time on the treatment table, he could miss upcoming Premier League matches against Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham.
It was those two fixtures that Norgaard missed out on with an injury in September. The Bees were beaten 3-1 by Spurs and drew 1-1 with the Hammers in those matches, highlighting the player's importance.
Norgaard joined Brentford from Fiorentina in 2019 and has gone on to make 182 appearances for the side as a mainstay in the team. Speaking in December 2022, Frank labelled the midfielder as the 'glue' in his Brentford plans.
He said: "Every team has one or two players that is the glue, makes the team tick, or better just by stepping on pitch. Norgaard is one of the players that does that for us. The amount of interceptions, second balls he wins, his ability to keep the ball and play the pass forward is key."
Ange Postecoglou ‘hurt’ by Tottenham Hotspur boos
Despite the injury, Brentford will go into next weekend's clash against Tottenham Hotspur buoyed by the three points against an in-form Crystal Palace side. Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou will make the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium under even more pressure following a 2-1 defeat to strugglers Leicester City in North London.
Speaking after that game, which ended in a chorus of boos from home fans, the Spurs boss said: "Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot. The players gave everything again. We are going to look at a lot of things, but in terms of effort I can't ask anymore of this group, things just didn't go our way today.
"We created some good opportunities and unfortunately things just didn't drop for us because not because the players weren't trying and that's the main thing. The players are giving everything they can. That is all we can ask for as a football club and me as a manager.
"You can analyse the goals, they were disappointing goals for us to concede, but I thought we had enough chances in the game to come out on top," he added. When you're in this situation, they are trying as hard as they can and sometimes that doesn't give you the clarity in decision making.
"You can ask is for people to do as much as they can and from my perspective I see a group of players that are giving as much as they can. I know it will turn. We'll get some players back, we were short again today, but in the next couple of weeks there's some really important players coming back that I know will help this group."