Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has warned of the threat his side's upcoming opponents could cause, describing Jesse Marsch's Leeds United as "very intense" and "very, very dangerous going forward".

He was speaking to the media ahead of Saturday afternoon's clash - a repeat of the one on the final day last season in which the Whites dramatically secured their Premier League status - and was full of praise for the Yorkshire-based side.

The boss also spoke about how his team have fared in recent weeks as a basis for how he expected the game to go, after Brentford snatched a last minute equaliser against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in midweek.

Finally, he gave an update on the team news amongst his squad, with the notable news that his club captain, Pontus Jansson, was in line to return to the team after a brief absence with an injury in the previous two games.

On Leeds

As previously mentioned, the Danish head coach was full of praise for the upcoming visitors to the Gtech Community Stadium, clearly aware of the risk they can pose any team when they are at their best.

That has been exemplified on multiple occasions, but perhaps best against a team local to Brentford in the form of West London neighbours Chelsea, who fell to a devastating 3-0 loss to Leeds at Elland Road.

Talking about the opposition, Frank said, "I respect Leeds as a massive club, one of the biggest in England. Jesse Marsch, together with his staff, have got a good start together.

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"They look very intense. On numbers, they play with the biggest intensity. Their high-press numbers are the highest. It's going to be a very intense battle, which we're ready for and looking forward to. I think it's going to be a good game to watch."

He continued: "They look very, very dangerous going forward with their front four. [Jack] Harrison has been really impressive. [Luis] Sinisterra as well.

"Let's see if it's [Patrick] Bamford and [Joe] Gelhardt who will play, we don't know, but they look impressive going forward."

On Recent Form

In addition to looking ahead to the next game and previewing how it may go, Frank also reflected on what has happened so far this season, summarising how he believes his team have started the campaign.

When asked about the first five games that Brentford have played in the top flight, he was positive about the way that his side have performed, remarking, "I think it's been a good start."

"We've scored nine goals," the 48-year-old said, "which is a good amount of goals compared to the league average. We look like a threat when we go forward and that's massively important if you want to win football matches.

"We need to keep that up."

On the most recent game that the Bees have played - the aforementioned draw with Palace - Frank was delighted with how they performed.

"The last game was a step forward in terms of defending as a team; we gave very little away. It took a bit of brilliance from a world-class player in [Wilfried] Zaha for them to score the goal.

"For me, it's about keeping consistency in our performances."

On Team News

Finally, there was some good news on the injury front as far as centre backs go for Thomas Frank, with both club captain Pontus Jansson and Norwegian defender Kristoffer Ajer back in contention to feature.

Their absences have been missed in recent games, so to have them back available to choose in the starting eleven will be a much welcome boost for both the manager and indeed Bees' supporters.

That said, Frank was quick to point out that Jansson's stand-in in recent games, Mathias Jorgensen, has performed well too, with the head coach saying, "I want my captain in, but I want to praise Zanka [Jorgensen] because he's done a top job in there. 

"We have some good centre backs with some good quality. [Kristoffer] Ajer is definitely knocking on the door, literally my office door and also on the training pitch. Hopefully I will involve him."

There was less positive news on Christian Norgaard however, who missed the previous game against Palace. Frank revealed that he "has an achilles problem, so he'll be out for some weeks.

"No surgery, it'll just recover over time. He's had issues with the achilles over a period of time and now it's too much."

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