Josh Stephenson previews Brentford B's Robert Rowan Invitational against PSG U21s | OneFootball

Brentford B captain Josh Stephenson says the young Bees want to “do the club proud” when they face Paris Saint-Germain Under-21s in Monday's Robert Rowan Invitational at Gtech Community Stadium (7pm kick-off BST).

The clash brings to an end a successful 2025/26 campaign for Sam Saunders’ side, and Stephenson added that the group want to end on a high.

The defender explained that the group’s experience playing against first-team opposition abroad would help them face a tough PSG challenge.

“We know how massive it is for the club," Stephenson said. "For ourselves, we just want to do the club proud at all times.

“When we got told our opponents were PSG, everyone was pretty excited for the game. There are going to be some of the best players around in our age group, so it’ll be a very good experience.

“I’m sure we can cope with that, we showed that playing against Monaco and beating them, so hopefully we can get a similar result.

“Throughout the whole year, no matter who we play against, our mentality is the same; we have enough quality to win any game, to be honest.”

After signing with Brentford in November 2024, Stephenson was quickly educated on the key role that Robert Rowan played in the formation of the B team.

“I got signed as a B-team player, so I know how Robert set up the team for Brentford,” said Stephenson.

“It’s been a really big part of my time here, so I’m very grateful for everything he did for Brentford.”

Reflecting on the 2025/26 season, Stephenson was full of positives from a team perspective.

His time spent training with the first team and featuring in matchday squads alongside Luka Bentt, Ollie Shield and Riley Owen was also a highlight.

“It’s been amazing, it’s been a really good year. There was a lot of change from the team last year, and we knew that going into pre-season,” explained the centre-back.

“When I sat down with Saunds and he gave me the captain’s armband, I wanted to do even better for the team.

“We walked away with the league and unfortunately didn’t go further in the play-offs, but we’ll take the league.

“The first team has been amazing, especially doing it with your friends as well. The first few weeks, I was trying to get used to the intensity but, once you’re there, you just want to show that you’re ready for that level.”

Last time out

Brentford fell to a 4-2 defeat against Everton U21s last time out, ending the Bees’ PDL play-offs campaign at the quarter-final stage.

Having won the PDL title, the west Londoners joined seven other PDL teams in facing eight PL2 sides in the PDL play-offs. They started off with a 2-0 win over Derby County U21s in the round of 16, before losing to Everton.

Against the young Toffees, Luca Picotto put Brentford up early in the game with a superb finish off a Kyrie Pierre assist, before Everton equalised just before half-time.

Stephenson was shown a second yellow card after the break, with the Bees then conceding three consecutive goals, before Ethan Laidlaw pulled one back late in the contest.

Last time out in the Robert Rowan Invitational, Brentford cruised past Tottenham U21s 6-1 in the 2025 edition of the fixture.

The Bees had six goalscorers on the night, with Andre Grey, Chanse Headman, Aaron Hickey, Emeka Peters, Nedved Owusu and Michel Boni each netting in the impressive display.

About PSG U21s

It’s been a successful season for PSG, across the UEFA Youth League and against English opposition in the Premier League International Cup.

Led by head coach Jean-François Vulliez, PSG finished the league phase of the Youth League 13th in the table, with three wins, two draws and a loss

That qualified the side for the round of 32, where they cruised past Dinamo-Minsk 4-0 at home. They followed that up with a 6-1 drubbing of HJK at home in the round of 16, before a tense 1-0 win on the road over Villarreal in the quarter-final.

That set up a semi-final meeting with Real Madrid away from home, with the two sides drawing 1-1 in regular time, before the hosts won 5-4 on penalties. Real Madrid then beat Club Brugge 4-2 on penalties in the final.

In the Premier League International Cup, PSG finished fourth in Group C with two wins, a draw and a loss.

They defeated Newcastle 2-0 away from home last November and won 3-1 over Chelsea in December.

Brighton fought out a 2-2 draw with the French side soon after, before Nottingham Forest claimed a 2-0 win in January, ending PSG’s hopes of making it through to the knockout stages.

Match information

Tickets are available to purchase here, with all proceeds from the game being donated to Heart of West London. There is also an optional donation available.

Adults - £5

65+ and U25 - £3

U18s - £1

Match coverage

The club will have updates of the game against PSG on social media, as well as a match report on the club's website and app.