Neal Maupay is on the bench for Brentford as they travel to Newcastle today.
Maupay spent two seasons at Brentford between 2017 and 2019, scoring a career-best 25 league goals in the Championship in the 2018/19 season.
The Frenchman then moved to Brighton and the Everton where his career stalled somewhat, but manager Thomas Frank re-signed him for Brentford a fortnight ago and said he could feature in Brentford’s trip to Newcastle on Saturday.
Asked on Thursday about the likelihood of Maupay featuring against Newcastle, Frank replied: “I think pretty good. He’ll be involved in the squad. He’s done well.
“He played games for Everton, he was fit, and he played a game behind closed doors in the break and scored a goal, so he’s in a good place. He’s been looking good and trained well.”
“Everyone available for the last game is available again”, Frank added. “It should be good.
“Dams [Mikkel Damsgaard] looks better and we will assess him tomorrow to see how close he is to actually joining the team. There is more than a slim chance [he might be involved]. We will assess him tomorrow.
Shandon Baptiste (shoulder) and Josh Dasilva (hamstring) remain out with “long-term injuries”, with Frank confirming they will not be available for months.
Starting Brentford XI: Flekken; Hickey, Pinnock, Collins, Mee,, Henry; Jensen, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa
Subs: Strakosha, Maupay, Schade, Zanka, Ghoddos, Onyeka, Lewis-Potter, Roerslev, Yarmoliuk
Time and date: 5:30pm BST, Saturday September 16, 2023
Venue: St James’ Park
