Flekken: We're not in the relegation battle but it would have been better to be trashed 4-1 by Arsenal

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone

Mark Flekken is not losing sleep over Brentford's current league position, claiming the Bees are 'still a little bit clear' of trouble.

The Bees are 15th but only boast a five-point cushion on Luton Town in the red zone.

Yet albeit the Dutchman refuses to be drawn into relegation talks, he is braced for some season-defining crunch meetings ahead.

In an exclusive interview with Capital Football, he said: "We are still a little bit clear of the real fight down there.

"But we have all those teams still coming up in our next fixtures so it's gonna be a tough one.

"We'll give everything and really fight [to stay up]."

Flekken then reflected on the 2-1 reversal at Arsenal. Yet if anyone thinks he's happy to only have lost by one goal against a side that had scored 21 times on their previous four meetings, they are forced into a rethink.

If anything it makes it harder to stomach.

He added: "No [it doesn't make it easier] because it's still a loss in the end.

"It still hurts because we were that close.

"If we would have lost 4-1, then yes it would have hurt but it would have been easier to say: 'Ok, it was a clear game for them today'.

"Yes they had a lot of possession, yes they had a lot of corner kicks and chances but I think we kept them away very nicely from our goal and minimized their threats.

"We had some good chances at the start of the second half and if we had taken them a little bit more, the game could have gone the other way.

"On one side that's the beauty of football, on the other side it's a disappointment.

"We fought hard for that draw."

The former Freiburg stopper, who replaced David Raya at the Gtech Community Stadium last summer, expressed his solidarity for Aaron Ramsdale after his blooper gifted Yoanne Wissa and Brentford the opener.

He said: "I can really feel that moment in the game.

"Also his situation at the club right now where he's not playing that much.

"It's never easy especially when you concede a goal like that.

"But I think he bounced back in the second half with two excellent saves.

"Heads up for the guy, he'll make his way."