Brentford boss Thomas Frank wants his players to continue to play like they believe they can hold their own in the Premier League when they head to Leicester on Sunday.
After slumping back down the table following a run of seven defeats from eight league games, back-to-back wins over relegation rivals Norwich and Burnley have reignited their survival push.
Having worked so hard to earn the right to play in the Premier League for the first time as the club returned to the top flight after 74 years, Frank challenged his team to adopt the required mindset to produced another positive outcome at the King Power Stadium.
“We know results are nice, but they need to be backed by the performances, so our consistency in producing good performances gives us something to believe in,” the head coach said.
“The more free-flowing you can play, without thinking about the consequences, the better you will play.
“The last two games were close games, which is natural because the wins mean a lot.
“In general, we have been reinforcing that we need to be brave, be cool, and be aggressive. The more we can enforce that on the training pitch, the better.”
Leicester may have struggled for domestic consistency this season, currently sitting in 12th place, but have reached the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League where they will play PSV Eindhoven.
Frank will not underestimate the challenge presented by Brendan Rodgers’ squad.
“We know it is going to be difficult,” the Brentford boss told a press conference.
“They have maybe not hit the highest level this season compared to the last two seasons where they were fighting for Champions League football and playing unbelievable football – but they are still a top team who, on their day, can beat all the top-six teams.
“Earlier this season we put a good performance in (against them) and definitely deserved a point, if not more.
“They had that quality from (Youri) Tielemans and a transition where we needed to do 100 per cent better. With Tieleman and (James) Maddison, they have two of the best offensive players in the league.”
Frank, though, feels his own squad have enough about them to cause the Foxes a few concerns.
“It is no secret we like to focus on set-pieces,” said the Dane.
“I am aware that Leicester have conceded some goals, but I am also certain that Brendan Rodgers, his staff, and the players will do everything they can to avoid conceding, so that can be a battle in the game.”
