Bees ready to sting Wednesday in replay

Brentford manager Martin Allen has warned Sheffield Wednesday they will face a cauldron-like atmosphere at Griffin Park on Monday night as the Bees seek to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit in the League One play-off semi-final.

Jon-Paul McGovern’s first-half strike handed Wednesday a slender first-leg advantage in the battle to reach Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on May 29 to face either Tranmere or Hartlepool.

However, after restricting Wednesday to just a single-goal victory in front of a vociferous 28,635 crowd at Hillsborough last night, Allen believes Brentford’s atmospheric little ground could prove vital in overcoming their deficit.

He said: “Wednesday have got the one-goal lead but I think we can go back to our place with confidence.

“You can forget about 28,000 people. There will be 11,000 Brentford supporters but they do back their team big-time – and I mean big-time.

“The tie is perfectly poised and is all set up now for a great return leg.”