Injury update: Thiago and Nunes will play in a closed-door friendly

Brentford striker Igor Thiago is training “very well” and will play a home game on Wednesday, head coach Thomas Frank revealed.

Thiago has yet to make his competitive debut for the club after suffering a meniscus injury in the Bees’ 5-2 win over AFC Wimbledon in pre-season.

“Today in practice he was a handful for the other team,” Frank said.

“The centre-backs had a bit of trouble with him, which is good. That’s positive, and Gustavo [Nunes] looks bright. The two will play an intramural game on Wednesday.”

Asked what Thiago will bring to Brentford’s attack, Frank added: “I’m looking forward to bringing him into the team to add more firepower up front.”

“He’s a different guy [Yoane] Wissa and Kevin [Schade]; He’s more of a physical presence, he’s even better in the air and even better in the penalty area.

“The way he presses is very aggressive and intense – he can keep going.”

Defenders Kristoffer Ajer (foot) and Rico Henry (knee) were unavailable for Bournemouth’s visit to the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

“Unfortunately Ajer is still out,” said Frank. “We were optimistic but he didn’t handle training as well as we thought so he’ll probably be out for a few more weeks with a foot injury.

“We thought the prognosis looked like he might be available for Fulham, but when we started putting weight on the foot he didn’t respond as well as we had hoped.

“We are particularly careful with Rico. When he puts his wonderful left foot on the pitch, we want to be as safe as possible. That’s why we need to tick some strength indicators and other points to be 100% sure.

“If everything goes according to plan, it will be a week before he can be used in a game or we are more certain. He was on the right track, had a small setback and now we are being extra careful.”

Aaron Hickey (thigh) and Josh Dasilva (knee) are the West Londoners’ long-term absences.