Farid El Alagui has paid tribute to the Brentford medical staff after his long-awaited return injury exploded into the new season.

The striker came off the bench on Saturday at Gillingham to salvage a League One point from a 1-1 draw with the last kick of the game, having done a similar thing in the Capital One Cup against Dagenham & Redbridge two weeks ago.

However, in the Bees’ 2-1 win over Crawley last October, El Alagui went down clutching his knee and, unbeknown at the time, he would not appear for the first team again for almost five months.

His rehabilitation has been long, arduous and sometimes uncertain – but all the time he had the support of the Bees’ manager Uwe Rosler, his team-mates, and most importantly, the medical staff.

“It was a bad knee injury, but fortunately I did not have to have an operation,” he said.

“Instead, at the end of October, I started a long process of rehabilitation and it was tough mentally because I did not know how long I would be out for.

“But the medical staff did a great job on me, with their support I was at the training ground almost every day working so hard to get back as quickly as possible.

“I was very lucky to have a medical staff like that round me, they ticked off everything that needed to be done.”

He added: “At the end of the season, I thought I could be part of the play-offs because everything was going fine, I had a few games with the development squad and everything was fine.

“I was ready in case the manager needed me, and it was good to at least play a part in getting to Wembley.”

Last season, the 27-year-old bagged three goals in 12 appearances, this time round he already has three goals in three appearances off the bench.

But while getting the goals has pleased the Moroccan, he has a far simpler target in mind for the season.

 

He said: “It is great to be back and as a striker it is even better to get the goals - it does your confidence no end of good.

"Coming off the bench to score is obviously exciting for the fans and while I obviously love getting the goals, I am still coming back and I hope it continues.

“I don’t have a target in terms of goals, after last year my target is all about playing and getting time on the pitch. That is what is most important to me.”

Your Local Guardian: Rosler

Supportive and patient: El Alagui praised his boss Uwe Rosler for his support during his rehabilitation and his patient approach to integrated the new younger players         SP73044

From his dubious vantage point on the sidelines, El Alagui has watched Rosler bring in a host of young players and seen how the German is integrating them into the side.

And it is a work in process, but understandably so.

“The boss is taking his time with the new, younger players,” he said.

“He doesn’t want to play too much because they cannot quite cope with the heavy workload every day.

“They are very talented players. But it is about time and being clever, and when they are ready, we will see the best of them.”