Ivan Toney indicated that he would be ready if he is needed as a late call-up to the England team after missing the initial 26-man squad. The Brentford forward netted a brace as his side beat Premier League champions Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Toney’s double served as a warning to Gareth Southgate about the quality that he has left at home. But there is still a chance the 26-year-old can make the plane to Qatar if another forward picks up an injury this weekend.
Toney said: “Listen, the only thing is to keep doing well, keep doing well for the team and see what can happen. Obviously, it was a disappointment but I won’t let it put me down. I’ll keep going and doing well for Brentford. My motivation is the lads in the dressing room and the fans. When we work hard this is what we can do.”
He added: “They might be Man City but they are humans and humans can lose games. I think the dedication and wanting to work hard for each other, we showed that today and deserved the three points.”
Brentford defender Ben Mee, who was able to keep Erling Haaland quiet all match, heaped praise on his team’s talisman. “He showed today what he can do. Great battling, hold-up play and he can finish. He fully deserved the two goals,” Mee said.
Meanwhile, Toney received astouding praise from some of football’s premier icons.
Gary Lineker said: “Well, I think @ivantoney24 has made his statement.” And Gary Neville added: “Left out of a World Cup squad 48 hours ago and responds with that! Brilliant from @ivantoney24.”
Brentford boss Thomas Frank dragged Toney towards the jubilant away end at the full-time whistle and couldn’t speak highly enough of his forward. Frank said: “Fantastic. I can’t praise him enough. What I would say is the most important thing is how good a person he is. What a player, what a striker. Scoring two goals and could probably have scored one more.
“Imagine having a hat-trick at the Etihad, I thought that was only for Haaland. But today it was close for Ivan Toney.”
He added:
“I still think the play-off final will always be the biggest one but of course it’s up there. I spoke to some of the people at the club who said as a single result it is probably the biggest, if you compare the two clubs in terms of resources. City and one of the richest clubs in the Premier League and we have one of the lowest budgets.
From my perspective it was a well deserved win. I think we eliminated them very throughout the game.
“They had their best team and we are missing four of our normal starters so it’s a mindblowing performance from the lads.”
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