Brentford manager Thomas Frank believes Christian Eriksen is ready for an emotional return to the Denmark team nine months after his cardiac arrest at the Euros.
The midfielder, 30, hasn’t played for his country since he collapsed on the pitch at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen during their Euro 2020 opener against Finland last June.
But Eriksen has since returned to club football with the Bees, making his full debut in last weekend’s win at Norwich, and he is likely to start at home to Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
Christian Eriksen has been backed by Thomas Frank to make a return to the Denmark squad
Brentford manager Thomas Frank believes Eriksen is fit enough to return to Denmark action
Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand is poised to name his squad next week for the upcoming friendlies against Holland and Serbia.
Eriksen signed for Brentford in order to gain the regular football needed to fight for a place in Denmark’s World Cup squad later this year and Frank has backed him.
‘Of course it is up to Kasper to decide. Fitness-wise? He is ready,’ Frank said.
‘He played 90 – actually 98 – minutes against Norwich, hopefully he plays 90 against Burnley and 90 against Leicester, then that is a very good number of minutes.
‘It is not like he has never played football before or tried anything. He is a very experienced player and person but I think that is a conversation for Christian and Kasper to have together.’
Asked if he speaks to international managers on a regular basis, Frank added: ‘The Danish manager [Hjulmand] of course because I know him well.
Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the pitch against Finland at Euro 2020
Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand is set to announce his latest squad in the coming days
‘I have spoken to Gareth Southgate a few times but just in general about players, nothing specific.
‘If they want to know, they can always call me. If not they do their jobs and I know they scout the players a lot of times.’
Frank also praised striker Ivan Toney for winning back the trust of Brentford fans with a hat-trick against Norwich, including two composed penalties.
It came just over a month since Toney was forced to apologise for a viral video of him saying ‘f*** Brentford.’
Toney celebrated his goals with the travelling fans at Carrow Road to prove things have moved on.
Frank said: ‘I don’t think he could have timed it much better with scoring and then being right in the corner with the Brentford fans. I think that was clever from him.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney was filmed saying ‘f***k Brentford’ in a social media clip
Toney has apologised for the clip, taking to his own Instagram account to release a statement
‘Ivan has been here one one year and eight months. First year he broke the [goalscoring] record in the Championship, became our top scorer and we got promoted. He scored in the semi, the final. Pretty decent!
‘In the Premier League now he has scored nine goals and two assists with a disrupted season.
‘I think Ivan has done fantastic for this club and I agree that every player has a responsibility to be as perfect as possible, but every individual is just a human being and everyone is trying their best to do the best as a human being. I think Ivan is doing that.
‘I will say that every Brentford fan should be extremely happy and privileged to have a player like Ivan representing Brentford.’
Toney scored a hat-trick as Brentford claimed a crucial 3-1 win at Norwich last weekend
With six goals in his last five matches, Toney could soon be an international.
England boss Gareth Southgate admitted in October to being ‘very impressed’ with the former Newcastle striker back and will name his squad for the friendlies against Switzerland and Ivory Coast next week.
‘It is not for me to pick the team. Maybe I am slightly biased. I don’t know how Gareth thinks but on the quality, I think Ivan has some of the qualities that could make him an England striker one day,’ Frank insisted.
‘Also I think it would have been even better if it was a consistent-performed season. That is just part of convincing a coach, whether it is me or Gareth, a very consistent season and performing well puts more plus points on your account.
‘That could have helped and then we come into different types. What types do you want as manager of a national team?
‘Then the form and injury level of other strikers and I don’t know how well they have done.
‘For me Ivan has done well but there is another level for him to reach. When he reaches that, I think it will be easy for the England manager to pick him.’
Brentford are 15th in the table, six points above Burnley in 18th, and will hope to pull further clear of them with three points on Saturday.
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