CALL OF DUTY bonding sessions have levelled up Brentford’s Premier League dreams.
When the Bees clinched a £170million promotion to the top flight at Wembley last summer, it was a victory for the little man.
And Rico Henry, who is Brentford’s longest-serving player, was fully entitled to milk it.
When the 5ft 7in defender arrived from Walsall in 2016, only 10,000 walked through the Griffin Park turnstiles.
Now 17,000 fill their shiny new stadium a few minutes’ walk away on Lionel Road — and they head to European champs Chelsea today just eight years on from their days in League One.
So far it has not been game over amid a glitchy season for the battling Bees, which left-back Henry puts down to the belief in the squad built on gaming sessions after training.
.css-16e4f55{margin:16px 0;}.css-1546w7m{background-color:rgba(237,245,242,1);margin:16px 0;}
READ MORE SUN STORIES
.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}.css-gmec1d{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;height:auto;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-align-content:center;-ms-flex-line-pack:center;align-content:center;-webkit-box-flex-wrap:nowrap;-webkit-flex-wrap:nowrap;-ms-flex-wrap:nowrap;flex-wrap:nowrap;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;margin-left:calc(-20px/2);margin-right:calc(-20px/2);}
.css-1shocxe{box-sizing:border-box;}
All the reaction as England get dream draw for World Cup group stage
FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS – BEST NEW CUSTOMER OFFERS
The 24-year-old told SunSport: “There’s a few jokers in the group like Vitaly Janelt, Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney.
“Everyone gets along here, it’s a real family club. I’m close with the boys and we usually make sure we have Call of Duty sessions after training, so all the time it feels like I’m with them and we’re together.
“Bryan would say he’s the best at COD because he plays on PC but I would say myself. I’m good, my KD [kill to death ratio] is two. Sometimes we play Fifa, too.
“I sort of knew from little things like that, that we were going to make big things happen with the togetherness in this team and the belief.
.css-qu9fel{border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}.css-b9nmbi{margin-bottom:16px;border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}
Most read in Football
.css-1gojmfd{margin-bottom:16px;}
“We’ve done that and now we’re in the Premier League playing week in, week out and it feels so good.”
It was impossible not to feel pleased for the club when they bagged their first top-flight season in three-quarters of a century.
There is an undeniable sense of unity between the players who, like any other friendship group, discuss over breakfast what Netflix shows they have been binge-watching.
Henry added: “The lads told me to watch Drive to Survive but I was a Formula One fan before that.
“I still need to watch it, I’ve heard it’s really good and there’s a new season.
“I sort of went off F1 because Lewis Hamilton got robbed last season but I’ll get into it again.
“I haven’t been to a grand prix yet but I want to go to Abu Dhabi. Hamilton is my favourite, then Max Verstappen. Maybe one day I’ll meet Lewis.”
Christian Eriksen may not yet be involved with the COD sessions but he has made an instant impact in West London.
YAMILY FORTUNES
BRENTFORD ace Rico Henry’s sizzling resurgence proves that nothing can beat your mum’s cooking.
The left-back thought his football dreams were over after endless injuries blighted his career shortly after arriving at the Bees from Walsall in 2016.
A dislocated shoulder, knee injury and a torn ACL limited him to just 39 of 152 games during his first three seasons at the club.
But what kept the Birmingham-born ace hungry for more was his mum’s cooking of his favourite Caribbean grub — yam and dumpling.
Henry, 24, said ahead of today’s clash at Chelsea: “When I did my knee I was out for 12 months so I was always questioning myself.
“I started to not believe and thought would I ever get back to the level I was playing at?
“But thankfully my family have been there since day one. When I was injured my mum would come down, help me and cook for me. My favourite is yam and dumpling.
“It’s credit to her and my family for me being sat here now. The Brentford physios have also been great so I’m grateful.”
Henry was recently being tracked by the likes of West Ham, Southampton and Aston Villa as he was on the brink of entering the final 12 months of his deal this summer.
He crushed speculation of a move last week when he penned a contract extension at Brentford until 2026. The defender played his 150th game for the Bees earlier this month in the 2-0 win over Burnley.
But when asked if he had finally learnt to rustle up his mum’s signature dish now he is over his injury hell, Henry replied: “Nah, no cooking! Well I can cook a bit but I’m lazy. I normally take food from the training ground.
“I’m going to ask my mum to teach me how to make it.”
Bees boss Thomas Frank hopes to begin crunch talks with Christian Eriksen to extend the midfielder’s deal beyond the summer.
The Dane, 30, sealed a fairytale deadline day transfer to Brentford just seven months after his cardiac arrest during his country’s Euro opener against Finland in June.
When asked about putting an offer on the table, Frank said: “Hopefully as soon as possible. I don’t think it’s any secret that we would like to continue.
“I’m pretty convinced Christian is enjoying it here but also convinced nothing will be decided before the end of the season from either side.”
Frank hopes the former Inter Milan schemer has saved some goals to sink Chelsea today after his red-hot form for Denmark.
He sensationally scored twice in friendlies with the Netherlands and at the scene of his cardiac arrest at the Parken Stadium against Serbia.
Frank added: “The first thing I said to him when he came back is that hopefully he has saved a few goals for us! He’s ready and looking forward to playing tomorrow.”
The club has been boosted by 23-year-old midfielder Vitaly Janelt’s new contract until 2026.
Frank said: “Vitaly has a great future ahead of him and I hope we will achieve his and the club’s ambitions together.”
The Danish midfielder’s deadline-day arrival got the club Bee-lieving again and they secured back-to-back Prem wins for the first time last month in his only two starts so far — just nine months after his cardiac arrest.
Henry said: “First day he came in, he was telling jokes on the training ground and I was like woah!
“He has slotted in real good. He chats to everyone in the canteen — and on the pitch his quality and his experience is helping the lads a lot. Long may it continue.”
Loyal Brentford servant Henry has also played a key role in keeping the team afloat in their historic maiden Prem campaign — they currently sit 15th, eight points clear of the drop zone.
He has made 25 starts from his 26 games in his first top-flight campaign and it is no surprise Bees boss Thomas Frank thinks he is destined for an England call-up.
The Birmingham-born star has seven caps at youth level but his international dreams were cut short through injury.
Henry said: “That’s the next step. I want to concentrate with Brentford for the moment as we’re still down the bottom with points to fight for.
“Representing your country is everybody’s dream and you want to do it at a big stage as well with the seniors. Hopefully in the future it may come.
“The guys that got called up deserve it. Tyrick Mitchell has been great and Kyle Walker-Peters. I know they came in due to injury but they’ve still been good.”
Henry one day hopes to emulate his hero, the former Chelsea and England left-back, Ashley Cole.
The lightning-quick pair show similarities in their defensive expertise, powerful engines and ability to burst forward to change games in the blink of an eye.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and what he’s doing now in the Premier League and with England makes me look up to him, too. His numbers are crazy.
Rico Henry
Henry continued: “Cole was my idol growing up, so I would love to speak to him and talk to him about his position.
“The game has changed now, it’s more stats-based.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold and what he’s doing now in the Premier League and with England makes me look up to him, too. His numbers are crazy.”
Pulling on a Three Lions shirt would be some achievement for Henry, who has been hampered with injuries and was rejected by Aston Villa as a kid for being too small.
Henry said: “Me and my dad supported Villa. I had a trial one time, didn’t get in, they said I was too small and we stopped supporting them.
“We didn’t go to the games but we moved on from them.”
BRENTFORD (likely): Raya, Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock, Henry, Eriksen, Norgaard, Janelt, Mbeumo, Toney, Canos.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
