Ivan Toney has done enough to be recognized for England selection – Thomas Frank

Thomas Frank believes Ivan Toney has done enough to give England manager Gareth Southgate a headache after scoring the opener in Brentford’s 2-0 Premier League win at Southampton.

Toney was in the right place at the far post to tip the ball home after a Christian Norgaard flick in the first half and converted the assist from Yoane Wissa, who scored the second in added time.

It was the striker’s 16th goal of the season but Toney is still awaiting a ruling from the Football Association after being charged with 262 breaches of the FA Gambling Rules, with the possibility of a lengthy suspension.

However, Frank believes his player has done enough to be eligible for England as Southgate is set to name his squad for the forthcoming European Championship qualifiers on Thursday.

“I don’t expect anything from football,” said the Bees manager.

“It’s up to Gareth to pick the right squad. Ivan has done more than enough to give Gareth a headache in a positive way.

“If you look at the pure goalscorers for England, he is the second highest goalscorer behind (Harry) Kane. If you look at the clear number nine, he should be thinking very hard about calling him.”

Frank added: “I don’t think I have any more words to say, I’m just repeating myself. Great player, character for us, great goal. He could have gotten more out of the standard chance from earlier.

“And to prepare Wissa for the goal, very good, important for us.”

The game itself was a low-key affair, with few clear chances at either end, and tempers grew tense in the second half, with 33 fouls during the game.

The Bees had a 12-match unbeaten streak that underpinned their European ambitions, which were shattered by a 1-0 defeat at Everton, but Frank praised their ability to put defeat behind them.

“I love the bounce back mentality of the players, the difference between good and great players and teams is the ability to bounce back and bounce back,” he said.

“I think these players and this team are great in many ways and I love how they hit back.”

Ruben Selles had to regret missed opportunities after his side failed to take anything from the game.

“I think we came here today with the belief that we could do well and get the three points,” said the Saints coach.

“We didn’t manage the key moments of the game and unfortunately didn’t get what we wanted.”

He added: “I think we had a clear plan on how to do it (win the game). I think in the second half we showed how to do things and slowly we lost those principles.

“We had the crosses but we didn’t have the situations in the penalty area to make the most of it.”