ALAN BENNETT knew he was already at an advantage when given a new defensive partner on Saturday.
Brentford boss Andy Scott brought in Darren Powell at Bradford for his first start since the centre-back rejoined the Bees, to give Mark Phillips a rest.
And if Brentford fans are familiar with the sight of Powell from his first spell at Griffin Park, he’s no stranger to Bennett either.
Bennett said: "I played alongside Darren a few times when he was at Southampton and I was on loan there from Reading.
"We already know how each other work. Darren is a really good defender with loads of experience, is solid, and a huge guy too."
Bees boss Andy Scott was quick to insist Bennett’s regular partner, Mark Phillips, had done nothing worthy of being dropped.
But he felt someone of Powell’s experience would help guide Karleigh Osborne through the game and help him put his Gillingham penalty nightmare behind him.
Scott said: "Mark can feel a little hard done by because he has done ever so well.
"But I just felt Karleigh didn’t have a great game last week, and being a young lad this can be an intimidating place to come, so I felt Powelly would calm him down a little and talk him through the game.
"Karleigh is a young lad who is still learning, but there is only so long we can still say he is a young lad because he has played a lot of games now and he needs to be big enough and strong enough to deal with it."
