Thomas Frank on Ivan Toney's late injury in Brentford's 2-0 win at West Ham: "I've been in the game long enough that we need to assess him in the next two days. It could be nothing, it could be a little bit worse."
Saturday 31 December 2022 07:13, UK
Thomas Frank said he was hopeful over Ivan Toney's knee injury but admitted it was "never a good sign" after the striker was stretchered off in their win at West Ham.
The Bees' marksman, who netted his 12th Premier League goal of the season at the London Stadium on Friday night, went over on his knee when defending a corner in the final moments of the game.
After a lengthy stoppage, he was loaded onto a stretcher and left the pitch with his head in his hands.
Frank felt it was too early to give a detailed diagnosis on the 26-year-old's condition after the final whistle but admitted he may miss Brentford's next game at home to Liverpool on January 2, live on Sky Sports.
"Hopefully he's okay," he said. "I'm happy for the three points and another goal to add to his tally. I don't know exactly how he will be against Liverpool in three days' time, it's unlikely he's subbed off because of a knock or something.
"So of course that's a little bit worrying, but I've been in the game long enough that we need to assess him in the next two days. It could be nothing, it could be a little bit worse. It's never a good sign, but we don't know anything about it. It's his knee."
Despite both Brentford goals coming before half-time, through Toney and Josh Dasilva, Frank was critical of his side's showing in the first 45 minutes, with West Ham dominant before the Bees' opener.
He said: "They were better than us first half, they started well, but goals change momentum. Then when we scored we were okay without being fantastic, and we were rubbish on the ball.
"Then we scored another one for 2-0, and the Premier League is always about taking your chances. The second half was much better.
"We were completely in control, it was closer to 3-0 than 2-1. We defended so well, so I'm very pleased with that."
West Ham's loss was their fifth defeat in a row to further raise the pressure on David Moyes, whose side are now 14 points worse off than they were at this time last season.
The Hammers saw most of the ball in both halves but after missing early chances through Declan Rice and Craig Dawson struggled to create anything to trouble David Raya, who kept a first league clean sheet since October 19.
Moyes focused on the positives of the Hammers' performance and insisted his side had played well without managing to find a cutting edge.
He said: "We played well tonight. Played really well in the first half, and well in the second half. We got sucker-punched by a couple of throw-ins in the first half. We've spoken before about not having enough quality in the final third and not scoring enough goals.
"It's become a theme. We dominated the ball but we couldn't create enough chances. Decan hits the post, Dawson came close and then we had the penalty overturned. We needed something to go our way.
"You have to give Brentford credit for how they worked the long throw so it's up to me to find ways of defending better. I think the fans have been very good. I thought tonight the fans were very good because I think they thought their team played well."
Moyes changed to a 3-4-3, dropping Lucas Paqueta into a deeper role behind a front three of Gianluca Scamacca, Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen, but watched his side draw a blank for the eighth time from 17 league games this season.
He defended his record at the London Stadium as he shortened to evens with Sky Bet to become the favourite in the Premier League sack race, and stood firm in his belief that the club can get back to the heights he took them to earlier in his three-year spell.
He said: "We tried to change it and play better tonight. I don't think it's unfair to say I'm under pressure because it's the business that we're in. If you go five games in which you've not won, you're always going to come under pressure.
"It's football, so you feel bad whether you lose two games in a row or five. I only want the best for West Ham because it's been a great club for me and the club has done well.
"We've taken it into a better place than it was before. I'm determined and desperate to keep it there. I don't want them to be dragged back down so I'm hoping we can get ourselves away from where we are."
West Ham visit Leeds on Wednesday January 4 at Elland Road in the Premier League; kick-off 7.45pm. Brentford host Liverpool on Monday January 2, live on Sky Sports; kick-off 5.30pm.
