BRENTFORD forward Kevin Schade collapsed to the floor with injury during the warm-up ahead of his side’s clash with Everton on Saturday night.
The forward, 21, was set to start on the left of the Bees’ front three at the Gtech Community Stadium.
But after taking a shot during the warm-up, he immediately went down in agony as the Sky Sports cameras caught the incident during their live coverage.
Schade appeared to be clutching his leg in what looked to be a thigh injury, but did manage to hobble off the field.
And he was swiftly taken out of the starting XI as manager Thomas Frank replaced him with Keane Lewis-Potter.
It was a major blow for Brentford – who are having to field an attacking trio without Ivan Toney as he remains banned until January.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Returning striker Neal Maupay was also unavailable for the game.
And defender Rico Henry faces missing the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury earlier this week.
Schade scored the opening goal in the Bees’ 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace earlier this month.
But Brentford’s unbeaten start to their Premier League campaign came to an end last weekend when they lost 1-0 to Newcastle.
Most read in Football
Meanwhile, Frank appeared on Monday Night Football earlier this week.
And he hinted that Toney, who is serving a ban for breaching FA’s betting rules, could be sold if the club receive the right offer.
Speaking generally about selling players, he said: “So far we’ve only sold one in the Premier League, that was David Raya – or that’s a loan but probably will be a sale in the future, I guess.
“I think every club in the world are a selling club except five or six clubs. We are a selling club, if the right price is there.
“I think if it’s the right time for the player to go, from my perspective that’s not my decision that would be Phil [Giles, director of football] or Matthew [Benham, Brentford’s owner] in the end.
“Then I think if they have developed well with us, been on the journey, and now they’re proven good enough to go to the top clubs, then I think it’s the right thing, if it’s the right price.”
Then referencing Toney specifically, he added: “I understand why there are a lot of rumours out there about him.
“For me he’s one of the best strikers, as a striker No9, I don’t see many out there who is better in the world than him, of course you have [Harry] Kane, [Robert] Lewandowski, [Erling] Haaland and these types, but not many.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“He scored 20 goals in the Premier League last year, in, of course, a very good Brentford side but of course we are not creating as many chances as the top six or seven teams.
“So imagine him in a top team, he’d easily score 20, 25 goals, for me. I think he’s composed, he’s a good finisher, top mentality, so I understand why clubs are looking at him.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
