Brentford have left Ivan Toney out of their squad for today’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
Transfer speculation around the England striker has been rife this summer as he begins the final year of his contract, although the reason behind his absence is as-yet unconfirmed.
Thomas Frank said: "There's some transfer interest and because of all that we decided not to involve him today. Ivan is a top player; he's been fantastic for us over four years but we also showed, last year especially, that we can win without him"
Fabio Carvalho is only on the bench after joining from Liverpool and new striker Igor Thiago is out due to a meniscus injury during pre-season. He won’t play until later this year.
Josh Dasilva, meanwhile, suffered an ACL injury in April after he had only just recovered from a serious hamstring injury sustained last August. He could therefore be out until as late as early 2025.
Late decisions have been made to leave full-backs Rico Henry and Aaron Hickey out. Both were injured last season as Henry suffered a second career ACL injury in September, while Hickey was out with a long-term hamstring problem.
Brentford XI: Flekken; Collins, Pinnock, Ajer; Roerslev, Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade
Subs: Valdimarsson, Carvalho, Onyeka, Mee, Yarmoliuk, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Peart-Harris, Trevitt
Injuries: Thiago, Dasilva, Hickey, Henry
Time and date: 2pm BST, Sunday August 18, 2024
Venue: Gtech Community Stadium
