Brentford 0 QPR 0: Minutes for first-team players in Jersey Road friendly

Fábio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg and Ben Mee played 90 minutes on Thursday afternoon as a Brentford XI drew 0-0 with neighbours Queens Park Rangers at Jersey Road.

The trio joined Mads Roerslev, Ji-soo Kim, Keane Lewis-Potter, Ryan Trevitt and Kevin Schade in featuring against a Rangers’ side which included a host of first-team regulars.

Rico Henry was rested as a precaution, having picked up a small knock, not related to his knee injury, in training ahead of the match.

Schade had the Bees’ best efforts of the opening 45 minutes, both of his own making.

A smart turn down the left channel opened up space for him to run into but his curling effort was well blocked by visiting keeper Joe Walsh, and Carvalho was not quite able to adjust to hook home the rebound.

Then, leading a counter on his own against two QPR defenders, Schade was able to fashion a shooting chance from the right side of the area but saw his low drive was repelled by Walsh’s foot.

Between those moments, the German striker saw a looping header drop onto the roof of the net while Ethan Brierley shot narrowly wide, and Carvalho had a free-kick blocked by the wall.

At the other end, van den Berg made a pair of perfectly timed challenges to prevent Alfie Lloyd getting his shot away while Julian Eyestone produced a sharp reaction save at his near post to turn the QPR striker’s angled drive to safety.

After the break, Carvalho had a flicked effort cleared away from under the crossbar following good work down the right from Roerslev.

The Danish defender was in the thick of the early second-half action, fashioning an opening for Ryan Trevitt which brought a fine tip over the bar from Walsh, before finding himself perfectly placed to clear off the line as the visitors threatened from a corner.

Michael Frey thought he’d opened the scoring with 15 minutes remaining but was denied by the offside flag.

Shortly after, Brentford were convinced they should have had a penalty for a heavy challenge by Walsh on Ashley Hay but the assistant adjudged the QPR player to have got the slightest touch on the ball before colliding with the Bees striker.

Late on, Eyestone was equal to Kieran Morgan’s fierce drive, preserving his clean sheet, while Riley Owen failed to find the target from 25 yards with the Bees’ final effort of the contest.

Brentford XI: Eyestone; Roerslev, van den Berg, Mee, Ji-soo; Brierley (Owen 67), Trevitt; Yogane, Carvalho, Lewis-Potter; Schade (Hay HT)