Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo will be sidelined for several weeks after suffering an ankle injury in the Bees’ 2-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday, Thomas Frank has revealed.
Mbeumo opened the scoring from the spot 27 minutes in after Brentford midfielder Vitaly Janelt was tripped by Jan Paul van Hecke, but he was substituted shortly after Pascal Gross struck a terrific first-half equaliser.
The Cameroon international rolled his ankle while chasing Gross back into the Brentford area late in the first half and was subsequently replaced by Yoane Wissa, with Frank’s team going on to suffer a third defeat in their last four Premier League games.
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With star striker Ivan Toney suspended until January after breaching the Football Association’s gambling regulations, Mbeumo has emerged as Brentford’s most important attacker this term.
His seven Premier League goals are more than twice as many as any other player has managed for the Bees this term, with Mathias Jensen and Wissa netting three apiece.
Brentford look set to be without Mbeumo throughout the busy festive period after head coach Frank issued a worrying update on his condition on Thursday.
“It is bad,” Frank said of Mbeumo’s injury. “He’ll have a scan later, but we don’t know the exact number of weeks he will be out.
“He will definitely not play on Saturday [away at Sheffield United] and he will be out for weeks. We will know more in the next couple of days.”
???? @BMbeumo19
“There’s so many things you can’t control and one of them is injuries. You need to do everything you can to recover well but there’s just some bad luck in it and Bryan is just bad luck. It’s very frustrating but I’m a positive guy;we will find a solution” pic.twitter.com/BdnWAGdWRi
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 7, 2023
Reflecting on Mbeumo’s importance to his team, Frank added: “He must be number two after Ivan in terms of goals and assists, which is key.
“His work rate for the team is incredible; you don’t see many wingers who work so hard and mean so much.
“He’s become the key man; ‘give me the ball, I’ll take this’. Who will that man be now? We’ll find out in the next weeks.”