Bees draw the sting out of Phillips after a brave fight

Matt Butler11 April 2012

Brentford left St Andrews heartbroken after they lost on penalties but they can take heart that their efforts left Birmingham striker Kevin Phillips fearing he was going to need a stretcher to take him to training this morning.

Sam Wood, a signing from Bromley, struck with a sweet second-half volley to put the Bees within touching distance of the last eight before veteran Phillips bundled in the equaliser with barely a minute of normal time left.

Although the 37-year-old former Sunderland and West Brom forward was pleased to send the Blues into extra time, which the home side dominated, he was left barely able to stand.

Phillips admitted the game — and Brentford's tireless performance — ruled him out of contention for this Sunday's derby against Aston Villa.

He said last night: "I don't expect to play in the Villa game, I have gone from playing very little football to 120 minutes, so I can tell you now I won't be able to walk tomorrow — I won't be able to move.

"We saw what they did against Everton, so we knew it would be a tough match. We didn't think it would go as far as it did but all credit to them. They came, they had a go and they brought some fantastic support.

"But I might have to get a taxi to training, or a stretcher or something."

Phillips paid tribute to the Bees and their ability to come so close to a second-straight Premier League scalp, following their penalty shoot-out victory over Everton in the previous round.

This time they were not so lucky in the shoot-out, with Michael Spillane hammering against the bar and Craig Woodman's effort going straight to goalkeeper Maik Taylor.

Lee Bowyer missed with a ballooning shot way over the bar but it was academic after Taylor stooped to save defender Woodman's shot.

Phillips added: "They kept going right till the end. They tired a bit towards the end of the 90 minutes and then they went five in the middle and I think they were trying to go to penalties. My goal was extremely vital, we would never have got to the penalty shoot-out if I hadn't have scored. To be honest, I couldn't really miss it but I am naturally delighted.

"You always feel that one more chance will happen and thankfully it did."

Brentford manager Andy Scott, meanwhile, was proud of his men and hoped the character which saw them through to the last 16 for the second time in their history will rub off on their fortunes as they try to climb the League One table.

Brentford come down to earth with a bump this weekend with a trip to Exeter and Scott said: "The players can take confidence into that game having played so well. They know they need to work hard but they do it because they want the responsibility and the belief they can do it.

"We have got characters in the dressing room who have incredible belief and can make things happen.

"I don't think Brentford football club have got the recognition they deserve. We are stable financially and I am a young manager.

"We are bringing players from non-league and we have added more quality to the squad. We believe in each other, even if we don't get the recognition we deserve.

"We can challenge higher in the league — we are five points off the play-offs. We want to be hard to play against and hard to beat.

"These occasions make the players even more
determined."

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