Brentford new boy Igor Thiago will be vying to make his first Premier League start when the Bees host Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.

The Brazilian has come off the bench in three successive matches since recovering from a pre-season knee injury, and Thomas Frank has already suggested that he is fit enough to make the first XI.

With rotation likely after a midweek game, Thiago has every right to feel optimistic about his chances of a full Premier League debut, potentially in place of Kevin Schade in the final third.

The German scored a phenomenal hat-trick against Leicester City last weekend, but he could not impact proceedings in the 3-1 loss to Aston Villa on Thursday and may make way for Thiago here.

The latter would occupy a central role in between offensive cornerstones Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, although Frank is sweating over a couple of injury concerns further back, as Christian Norgaard and Mathias Jensen missed the trip to Villa Park with minor problems.

Frank is hopeful that Norgaard will be available, though, and he ought to displace Yehor Yarmolyuk in the midfield triumvirate, where Mikkel Damsgaard and Vitaly Janelt should both reprise their roles.

Rico Henry is still not yet fit following his severe knee injury, while Aaron Hickey is also on the mend from a thigh problem, but Frank may see fit to make a change at full-back anyway.

Indeed, Mads Roerslev is pushing to come in for Keane Lewis-Potter, meaning that Sepp van den Berg could switch to the left-hand side of an otherwise unaltered backline.

Brentford possible starting lineup:
Flekken; Roerslev, Collins, Pinnock, Van den Berg; Norgaard, Janelt, Damsgaard; Mbeumo, Thiago, Wissa

> Click here to see how Newcastle could line up for this match