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Thomas Frank took the positives from the goalless draw between Brentford and Crystal Palace, but is hoping Christian Eriksen can provide the spark they need.

Before the match, Brentford unveiled Eriksen to their fans at their stadium. It came exactly eight months after his cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening Euro 2020 match.

Denmark did not score that day and neither did Eriksen’s new club against Palace. Therefore, the playmaker should come in useful when he is ready.

That could be soon; the plan is reportedly for him to feature in a behind-closed-doors friendly next week. Then, he could be in line for his long-awaited return to competitive action against Arsenal, next Saturday.

Brentford boss Frank is eager to introduce him to the fold after seeing some positives from the Palace draw but knowing they need more.

“It’s very pleasing, not only for the Brentford fans but also for the Palace fans. For everyone in football it’s a big day,” Frank said.

“And it will be even crazier when he gets on the pitch and plays. There are a lot of positives to look forward to.

“I think in general I’m pleased we got a point. Today if there should have been a winner it was us.

“It was a big positive to get a clean sheet. But we need to do better on the ball, have more quality in the final third.

“I’m a positive man so I will look at it as a good point. But I’m also eager and want to have more, to do more.

“I like the consistency in the performance. We gave very little away. We need to do more offensively, but I think one day we’ll just be explosive.”

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There was a penalty appeal for Brentford in the 15th minute when the ball hit the arm of Marc Guehi in the box. VAR looked at the incident, but there was no penalty still.

Frank thought Guehi’s arm was in an unnatural position but that did not mean he disagreed with the decision.

“I agree he put his hand out, but I would have hated that given against us,” he admitted.

Vieira knows what Palace need to do to score more after Brentford stalemate

Palace, meanwhile, are still without a league win since the turn of the year. In 2022 so far, they have won two of their seven games, but they were both in the FA Cup.

They too had a penalty claim after Wilfried Zaha went down in added time. But again, such appeals were waved away.

Patrick Vieira declined to comment on the decision, but used it as a reminder of what his side need to do to get among the goals again.

“From where I was it’s difficult for me to comment,” Vieira said. “But one of the reasons we don’t score goals is the lack of players inside the box.

“If we want to score goals we need players in that area. Those moments and those situations are massively important for us and the players need to understand it.”

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