Thomas Frank has backed Ivan Toney to use all his mental strength to shake off England’s disappointment and return to Premier League form.
Toney earned his first senior England call-up for the last international window before the World Cup, only to miss out on the Three Lions debut.
Star striker Toney failed to convert a handful of half chances as Brentford managed a goalless Premier League draw at Bournemouth on Saturday.
But boss Frank insisted the 26-year-old has all the mental powers necessary to dismiss any lingering international frustrations and return to league scoring form.
“He needs to do as much as he can on the pitch every day, and I think he did at Bournemouth,” Frank said.
“Iván was a constant threat throughout the match, it’s not often that a number nine gets four or five chances. He was constantly there.
“And he also cleared the ball off the line, which is important.
“He is very important to the team, we all want to win all our games, but sometimes you need to score a point on an average day for us.
“Maybe we could have lost the game, but we could have also won.
“But Iván’s mentality is one of his biggest strengths and you can see that in the matches too: he misses an opportunity, he moves on to the next action.
“He’s very, very strong mentally and that’s why he’s where he is now.”
Bournemouth caretaker boss Gary O’Neil was pleased with another hard-fought point.
The Cherries extended their unbeaten streak in the league to four games under O’Neil’s watch, with the South Coast men back on level ground after Scott Parker’s departure.
The 9-0 thrashing at Liverpool might have sunk their season on its own, but Bournemouth have since managed three draws and a win at Nottingham Forest.
“I think this would be the first time I’ve gone home a little bit frustrated,” O’Neil said.
“In the games that I’ve been in charge we’ve done well and worked hard, but in this one I felt like we could have had a little more and maybe won the game.”
