Bees fans should have massive hope for his side's promotion prospects, Thomas Frank said in an interview with The Guardian.

The Brentford boss also expressed concerns about social media and its effect on players.

In a far-reaching interview with the newspaper, he said: "I think the fans should have massive hope.

"After we went 21 games unbeaten, which is unbelievable in this league, you suddenly have even more hope. Then we had a little setback.

"The fact is if you said 'OK Thomas', or to any Bees fan after 37 games 'you will have eight points more than at this stage last season', you would have said: 'Yes, of course.'

"We will definitely attack this run-in. It's the only way. I think it will go right till the end, who will get in top two."

Hope, he knows, is a funny thing in this game. "We are selling hope in football because every game there is new hope. 'Maybe this year, maybe this game, maybe we can come back even though we lost the last three.'

"It is all about hoping. And within that hope, there are lots of ups and downs. It is about trying to stay as calm as possible. I try to stay calm, calm, calm, calm … and then suddenly I explode, because I can have a lot of emotions pent up inside me."

He said he has concerns about how social media can impact his squad. "It is nice with the praise when you score a hat trick … but you don't score a hat-trick every week.

"I've been speaking to them about social media, especially if some of the players have not been performing that well. I don't read anything about it but I just know how it works and the mechanism.

"After I've spoken for 30 seconds [after a game], they are on to their phones and I'm thinking: 'Should I make a rule that they can't do that before they leave the dressing room?' I don't know."

Full interview here

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