Premier League newcomers Brentford continue their pre-season campaign on Tuesday, when they make the short trip to Meadow Park to take on Boreham Wood.
The newly-promoted side started with a 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon, while their fifth-tier hosts fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Luton Town in their most recent friendly.
Match preview
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Boreham Wood started pre-season with a home game against Championship outfit Luton Town, and Luke Garrard's men were edged out despite an impressive showing.
They did take the lead through a trialist in the 25th minute, but the visitors' quality eventually showed as a Jordan Clark brace and a goal from Carlos Mendes Gomes turned the game on its head.
Nevertheless, the Hertfordshire outfit will certainly take positives from a game that saw them lead a Championship side until the 70th minute, as they head into their seventh consecutive season in England's fifth-tier.
Despite looking strong in the 2019-20 campaign, finishing in fifth place when the league was brought to a premature end due to COVID-19, Garrard's side took somewhat of a backwards step last season, ending in 14th spot having won just 13 of their 42 league games.
With another chance to break into League Two in the upcoming campaign kicking off next month, the Wood will hope to build momentum with another strong performance against league opposition.
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They welcome a Brentford side who won promotion to the top flight last season after several years of coming agonisingly close.
While Thomas Frank's men looked to have thrown the opportunity away with a disappointing end to the regular season ruling out their chances of a top-two finish, they looked strong in the playoffs, coming from behind to defeat AFC Bournemouth 3-2 on aggregate thanks to goals from Ivan Toney, Vitaly Janelt and Marcus Forss.
That saw them book a tie with Swansea City at Wembley, and early goals from Toney and Emiliano Marcondes meant they dominated throughout, eventually seeing out a 2-0 win to move into the top flight for the first time since 1947.
Frank's men started their preparation for the season with a friendly at home to AFC Wimbledon, and a Joel Valencia header fired them to a 1-0 win.
They will now look to put their second victory of pre-season on the board on Tuesday to continue building towards the upcoming season.
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Team News
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Boreham Wood's opening friendly game saw several new signings impress, with Jacob Mendy, Will Evans and Frankie Raymond all expected to play key roles throughout the season.
Mendy produced a fine piece of attacking play to set up their opening goal in that game, and he should possess the ability to test Brentford's defenders on Tuesday with bombing runs down the left flank.
Experienced goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore will continue to start between the sticks, having been a crucial player last season.
While they did change teams at half time, Brentford initially fielded a full-strength side against Wimbledon, and Thomas Frank should continue to give minutes to his key players in the run-up to the season.
Attackers Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and Joel Valencia should all feature, while Ethan Pinnock will general the defensive line.
Midfielder Vitaly Janelt limped off with a muscular issue in the first 15 minutes of that game, and he should not be risked despite Frank suggesting the injury was not serious.
On the plus side, Shandon Baptiste did make a return after a long spell out of action through injury, and he will likely get more minutes.
Boreham Wood possible starting lineup:
Ashmore; Smith, Evans, Stephens, Ilesanmi; Raymond, Rickets, Smith, Mendy; Tshimanga, Marsh
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Goode, Pinnock, Gordon; Roerslev, Baptiste, Ghoddos, Canos; Mbeumo, Toney, Valencia
We say: Boreham Wood 0-3 Brentford
Brentford will come into Tuesday's game hoping to record a convincing victory to build confidence, and they should outclass their hosts.
Boreham Wood should have enough to avoid a huge scoreline but may lack the firepower to truly challenge a Premier League side.
Sam Varley
