Brentford head coach Thomas Frank says the ankle injury sustained by Bryan Mbeumo is “bad” and the forward will likely be out “for weeks”.
Mbeumo suffered the problem during the first half of Brentford’s 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday. The 24-year-old had scored the game’s opening goal, converting a penalty after Vitaly Janelt had been fouled in the box, but had to be replaced by Yoane Wissa shortly before half-time following a collision with Brighton’s Pascal Gross.
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Frank said on Thursday that he believed Mbeumo had damaged his ankle ligaments.
“It is bad,” Frank confirmed. “I don’t know how bad. We don’t have the exact number of weeks. He will definitely be out for Saturday and for weeks.
Mbeumo has been in fine form for Brentford this season, contributing seven goals and four assists in 15 Premier League games.
Asked if it will be hard to replace Mbeumo in the Brentford team, Frank replied: “Yes, but it was also hard to replace Ivan (Toney, who remains suspended until January).
“We normally find a way. That’s football and it happens sometimes. We will find a solution. There are other players who can step up.
“Football is such a marginal game. Hit the post, inside the post, outside the post, deflection there are so many things you can’t control like injuries.
“We need to do everything we can to recover well and there is also some bad luck in it. Bryan is just bad luck. He gets caught and rolls his ankle. Very frustrating of course but I am a positive guy.”
Brentford return to action on Saturday with a trip to Sheffield United.
What does this mean for Brentford?
This will have huge consequences for Brentford’s season. While Ivan Toney has served an eight-month suspension for breaking the Football Association’s rules around betting, Mbeumo has stepped up to become their main attacking threat. He has been directly involved in 10 goals this season — 43.5 per cent of Brentford’s overall total (23).
Only Erling Haaland of Manchester City, Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan (both 50), Mohamed Salah of Liverpool (47.1) and Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke (44.4) have better records, according to Opta.
There will be pressure on Yoane Wissa to step up but he has only scored once in his last 13 appearances while Keane Lewis-Potter is still looking for his first goal in the top-flight. With Kevin Schade out long-term too with an adductor injury, Brentford have a lack of speed and direct dribbling upfront so will need to tweak their style.
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The only small positive piece of news is that Thomas Frank’s side only have four more league games, and three of them are against teams below them, before Toney returns from his ban.
Mbeumo’s injury could impact his chances of representing Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations. Cameroon’s first game is against Gambia on January 15.
(Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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