Andrews: We value Thiago so much | OneFootball

Keith Andrews has underlined Igor Thiago’s importance to Brentford as the striker searches for his first Premier League goal of the 2026/27 campaign.

The Brazilian scored 25 goals in all competitions last term and found the net during the Bees’ 6-1 Carabao Cup victory over Birmingham City last month.

Speaking ahead of Brentford’s meeting with Chelsea at Gtech Community Stadium on Friday night (8pm kick-off BST, live on Sky Sports), Andrews backed Thiago to rediscover his goalscoring form and urged his players to remain focused on the present.

“It’s always important not to let the noise impact what you do, how you do it and why you do it – whether that’s good noise or slightly negative noise,” said the Bees head coach.

“I’m really comfortable with where he is and how he came back from the World Cup. It didn’t go as well as he would have liked, and he would be the first to admit that. That was for various reasons.

“We shouldn’t lose sight of what he achieved last season and the mountain he climbed to do what he did for us.

“We value him so much as a player, not just because of his goals. He’s in a good place and he’s enjoying his football. He loves being here and we love having him here.”

Andrews continued: “I mentioned it to the players this morning before our meeting: stay present.

“We’re in an era now where people are so glued to technology and looking at what’s next that they’re not looking at what’s happening now.

“Now, for us, is tomorrow’s game.”

Andrews made three substitutions during the half-time interval of Brentford’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland, introducing Jaidon Anthony, Aaron Hickey and Yehor Yarmoliuk.

Discussing his approach to in-game changes, the head coach acknowledged the stigma attached to being withdrawn at the break but stressed that every decision is made with the team’s performance in mind.

“I have to say, I didn’t particularly like it as a player,” said Andrews.

“You have an idea around what changes you might make, but the game is the game; you have to react to what you’re seeing and feeling.

“Who’s performing? Who has hurt us for the opposition? It’s a mix of all those aspects.

“You try to come to a conclusion that will help the team perform better.

“We’ve got a pretty good squad now and the margins between who plays and who doesn’t are so fine.

“It’ll be exactly the same tomorrow. We’ll start with an XI, but that XI won’t finish the game because of the strength of our squad.”

Josh Dasilva (hamstring), Antoni Milambo (ACL), Nathan Collins (calf), Sepp van den Berg (groin) and Kaye Furo (metatarsal) remain sidelined.

Mathias Jensen is also unavailable for Friday’s game.