Brentford manager Thomas Frank has confirmed Frank Onyeka will be available for selection when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Nigeria forward, who joined the Bees on a five-year contract from FC Midtjylland in July, missed the team’s last assignment against Aston Villa after testing positive for coronavirus.
His absence came after he had started in the team’s opening two fixtures against Arsenal and Crystal Palace and he had also featured as a second-half substitute in Brentford’s 3-1 victory over Forest Green Rovers in the League Cup.
The Covid-19 situation also forced him out of Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying matches against Liberia and Cape Verde but according to coach Frank, he will be available for selection when they host the Seagulls at Brentford Community Stadium.
“Team news is good. Everyone is fit and available for selection that means Frank Onyeka can join the squad,” Frank said as quoted by the club’s official website. “Mathias Jensen got a full game, more or less, for the national team and Shandon Baptiste is in a better place.”
On the team’s performance so far this season, Frank said: “We need to keep the foundation we’ve laid in our performances, especially the defensive side of the game. We’ve been pressing forward and high, and very aggressively.
“That is the key thing for us to do. We also want to try to build from the back and be slightly more dominant. We need to understand that we’ve stepped a level up and that can be slightly more difficult.
“There were spells against Aston Villa where we did very well on the ball but we need to add that quality in the final pass or decision making. We are not one of the bigger clubs.
“We are a bus stop in Hounslow with a good squad that I believe massively in but our quality of player is not as good as the other clubs. That is said with the biggest respect to my players; I love all of them.”
In a previous interview, the Danish tactician praised the impact of Onyeka since he signed for the side by stating: “[The new signings] have settled in well, especially Kristoffer Ajer and Frank [Onyeka] who started the first two games and did very well.”
