Brentford will be without striker Igor Thiago for their Premier League meeting with Everton at the Gtech Community Stadium after the international break, a decision that has drawn criticism from manager Keith Andrews over the use of VAR.
Thiago, who scored a hat-trick against Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium last season and two goals in the reverse fixture at the Gtech, was sent off 23 minutes into Brentford's 2-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. He was initially shown a yellow card by referee Michael Oliver after reacting to a shirt pull and subsequent push from Albion midfielder Chema Andres, who was also booked. The punishment was upgraded to red on review, with Oliver determining the Brazil international used force to push his opponent in the face with a raised arm.
Andrews questions VAR decision
"After review, Brentford No.9 pushes his opponent in the face with force. Yellow card is cancelled and the final decision is red card," Oliver announced to the crowd, as Thiago, pending an appeal, now prepares to serve a three-match suspension.
Andrews said: "We've lost two games in the league this season and both have been when we've gone down to 10 men, so you need to analyse yourself first clearly. On both scenarios, we can do better. On both scenarios, the opposition player has been the one to provoke the situation and antagonise our player and react towards our player in an aggressive way."
He added: "Players' reactions now mean everything. I'm going to reiterate it: we should do better. But the game is in a state now of a place I don't particularly like. We'll have to have a look at that because it's costing us."
Grealish closing in on return
"I'm struggling to believe in this day and age where we see the referee's call on pitch and the bar of where they're given the licence to referee in-game, which is what I should think it should be, but he's been sent to the screen," he said. "We play on the edge, we're a team that likes to play on the edge, I want us to be on the edge. But it clearly cost us."
While Thiago looks set to miss the game against Everton, Jack Grealish could return to the travelling matchday squad for the clash at the Gtech. Grealish has missed Everton's last four matches due to illness, a breach of club discipline and a lack of fitness. The ECHO understands that the on-loan Manchester City star has now returned to Finch Farm training complex and is currently on a tailored programme, which will not mean purely personal training, and he will rejoin his team-mates for first-team training sessions next week.
The game against Brentford is not until Monday, November 23, giving the England international around two weeks to build up his fitness. Asked for an update on Grealish following Everton's 3-1 victory over Coventry City on Friday night, manager David Moyes said: "There's no more detail at the moment."
