Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has conceded that Kristoffer Ajer will not be back in the ranks for Saturday's Premier League showdown with Bournemouth at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Norwegian defender was thought to have been in with a good chance of coming back from a foot injury in time for the trip to Fulham on Monday, but he was ultimately not involved as the Bees slumped to a 2-1 loss.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Frank revealed that Ajer would be missing for another few weeks at least, and the game should also come too soon for Rico Henry to make his return from a long-term knee issue.
Igor Thiago (knee), Josh Dasilva (knee), Aaron Hickey (thigh) and Gustavo Nunes (back) are also taking up beds in the Brentford infirmary, and with Ajer still missing, Mads Roerslev and Sepp van den Berg should occupy the full-back roles.
Ethan Pinnock and Nathan Collins are shoo-ins ahead of Mark Flekken, and the same goes for Christian Norgaard and Vitaly Janelt - scorer of a fine opener at Craven Cottage - in midfield.
Mikkel Damsgaard is poised to operate just ahead of the duo once again, providing support to what should be an untouched attacking setup of Keane Lewis-Potter, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa.
The latter is on a four-game scoring sequence in Premier League home games, while Mbeumo has made the net bulge in each of his last five top-flight matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Van den Berg; Damsgaard, Norgaard, Janelt; Mbeumo, Wissa, Lewis-Potter
> Click here to see how Bournemouth could line up for this clash
Ben Knapton
