BRENTFORD boss Thomas Frank praised his side’s defensive performance after the Bees snapped a five-match winless run in the league with a 1-0 victory against Everton.

Ivan Toney’s 24th-minute penalty was enough to seal all three points at the Brentford Community Stadium, a first win in the Premier League since the club’s 2-1 victory over West Ham in early October.

The Bees are now up to 12th in the table on 16 points, and Frank was delighted with how his side held firm amid a second-half onslaught from the Toffees.

Frank said: “It’s a big win, a very big win. It just shows again that in this league it’s a full-out 100 per cent performance every time if you want to get three points. 

“A clean sheet is massive. I think the first six, seven matches we were bang on defensively, we were pressing high. We’ve done that throughout the season, and we’ve continued doing that today, but also we were very compact when we had to be very compact.

“I think the last three matches we haven’t been as good defensively, so we had a big focus on that this week and the boys just delivered. Bang on, in terms of that.

“The big thing is that we still need to be able to jump and be aggressive with the pressure and be very compact and then we know we’re difficult to break down, but we found a bit of balance and didn't go too early. That’s very important if you want to get three points.” 

Frank reserved special praise for goalkeeper Alvaro Fernandez, who made some key saves to keep Brentford’s lead intact.

He said: “Alvaro, what a game. I’m so pleased for him because of the two saves he pulled [off].

“The big save on [Salomon] Rondon just after we went 1-0 up, and he saved the ball from [Alex] Iwobi in the second half. It seems like it’s not that big a save but if you look behind the goal. it’s a massive save, so that’s good.”

Brentford are next in action when they head to North London for a capital clash against Tottenham on Thursday, before a trip to face Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday.