That familiar feeling

Brentford lost 1-0 at Walsall yesterday in a performance well below the expectations of supporters who'd followed our pre-season form.

Uwe Rosler - hampered by his failure to bring in a left back and denied the services of the injured Farid El Alagui and Richard Lee - selected an unbalanced starting XI who conceded the decisive goal within eight minutes.

Shaleum Logan started at left back whilst a midfield diamond of Saunders, Douglas, Reeves and Forrester (in which JD appeared to be playing on the left) put in a fairly insipid shift. Reeves, for his part, was sent off after 25 minutes for a lunge with studs showing after Douglas had lost possession.

Centre backs Craig and Dean were pulled out of position for the goal and despite a valiant saving block by right back O'Connor (who had a decent game throughout) the ball was soon fired into Moore's net.

Moore made some decent saves throughout the first half and Brentford emerged after the break with a three man defence - with Kev at the centre - whilst Logan and Weston were shifted to wing-back. Logan looked more comfortable on the right.

Substitutes Diagouraga and Forshaw - on for Saunders and Forrester - made a real impact on the game and it no longer looked like we were playing with ten men. Our best chance fell to Dave but he struggled to find the necessary finish whilst Clayton Donaldson - who showed touches of class as ever - failed to capitalise on an opening he created late in the game.

Spurs loanee Fredericks made a late appearance for a cameo debut to forget - his game punctuated by missed tackles and shanked passing. Let's hope there is better to come.

Uwe confirmed after the game that Farid should be fit for next Saturday's game at Bury and that he hoped to have a left back in this week. He's also spoken of a box to box midfielder so there might be one of those coming too although Forshaw deserves a start next weekend.

All in all it's a disappointing defeat in a cup we've regularly underperformed in. The league is most people's priority but let's not forget the benefits to a club from great cup nights like the win over Everton two years ago - galvanizing the support during a period of mixed league form.

Beesotted is still shocked that we've gone into the season without an experienced left back whilst the lack of forwards at the club showed yesterday due to El Alagui's injury. Let' hope we can bring in Paul Hayes sooner rather than later.

Bees - Moore, Logan (Fredericks), Kev, Dean, Craig, Saunders (Dave), Forrester (Forshaw), Douglas, Reeves (sent off), Donaldson, Weston

Unused Subs - Gounet, Dallas, Legge, Redwood

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