Denmark international Andreas Bjelland has insisted that he is undeterred by the challenge of the Championship as Brentford seek to gain promotion to the Premier League.
The centre-back, signed for a club record €3million from FC Twente, is accustomed to a league with a more technical style of play having spent his career in the Netherlands and Denmark.
But he insists that the more hostile nature of the Championship has not been cause for concern.
“It’s a physical league, with a lot of games,” Bjelland said. “For sure it is a higher level than the Dutch league. It’s a new step for me and a new challenge.”
“The Dutch way is totally different. Dutch football is a lot of technical skills, whereas here it is more physical. You have to go into some more duals.“
The 27-year-old acknowledged that the congested nature of the fixture list in the Championship will take some getting used to - however he expects to be better for it.
“There’s not going to be much training if you have such a schedule, so it’s just about recovery and getting ready for the next game.
“You just have to learn your body even better to see how you recover from these games in such a short period.”
And Bjelland has admitted he has spoken to members of Steve Maclaren’s coaching staff before making his move - as well as talking to his compatriots in the Denmark squad.
“I spoke a little bit with (Christian) Eriksen and (Kasper) Schmeichel also - he played a lot of games in the Championship. William (Kvist) for sure also, to get an impression of the league.
“I know Brentford want to do things maybe a little bit different from other clubs, with playing football. But yeah, I spoke to a lot of friends to get an impression of the league and England in general.“
