Facing a brutal final run-in, the Bees must balance European ambitions with the defensive discipline required to halt Pep Guardiola’s title-chasing juggernaut at the Gtech.
Keith Andrews admits Brentford still have “a lot of work to do” if they are to keep their European hopes alive over the final three games of the Premier League season.
The Bees host Manchester City at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday evening, with both sides still chasing major targets. Brentford remain in the mix for a possible European finish, while City arrive needing points in their pursuit of Arsenal at the top of the table.
Brentford’s recent 3-0 win over West Ham United gave Andrews’ side fresh momentum after a difficult run, but their final fixtures leave little margin for error. City are followed by Crystal Palace and Liverpool, meaning the Bees will likely need a strong return from one of the toughest run-ins among the teams around them.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Andrews made clear that Brentford cannot afford to look too far ahead.
“We've got a lot of work to do over the next three games to put ourselves in a position of anything like [Qualifying for Europe],” Andrews said.
“The focus is on tomorrow first and foremost.
“We're obviously running out of games, and we want to finish the season really well. Tomorrow is going to be really difficult, but we want to go and show what a good team we are.”
City will present a significantly different challenge to West Ham. Guardiola’s side can dominate possession, change shape during games and find goals from several areas of the pitch. Andrews pointed to that variety as one of the reasons Brentford must be ready for more than one version of City.
"They're are an amazing team,” he said. “The way they play, how they can hurt you, tweaks that Pep Guardiola makes to the team in trying to unlock the opposition and the level of top-quality players they have among their team.
“If it's not one player one week, it's a different player the next week.”
Andrews also spoke about the influence Guardiola has had on the wider game, from Barcelona and Bayern Munich to his decade at City.
“[Pep] has had an amazing impact on so many coaches within the game,” Andrews said. “His innovative mind, the way he's coached teams in different countries.
“I've always had the utmost respect for him as a coach.”
The Bees have already shown this season that they can compete with strong sides, and Andrews wants his players to carry belief into a fixture that could shape the final weeks of their campaign.
“There are only a few games left now, we've got our own agenda, we always have and we really want to push that,” he said.
“It should be really difficult tomorrow, but we should be going there in a place where we have a level of confidence to know that we can perform against a team like City.”
A positive result would keep Brentford’s European hopes alive and place fresh pressure on the teams around them. It could also put a serious dent in City’s title hopes, with Guardiola’s side unable to afford many more dropped points as they continue to chase Arsenal.