Iceland international goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson made his Premier League debut – and earned praise from Brentford boss Thomas Frank for the role he played in his side’s hard-fought goalless draw at Brighton.
The 23-year-old, who joined the Bees in a £2.6m transfer from Swedish side Elfsborg in the summer and who only made two appearances in the Carabao Cup, against Colchester United and Leyton Orient, got his big chance when Mark Flekken suffered an injury to either the top of his right thigh or his hip late on in the first half.
Flekken picked up the injury when he had to twist sharply to save Kaoru Mitoma’s deflected cross and the hosts would have fancied their chances of getting a win, especially with Brentford’s poor away record.
But Valdimarsson kept a clean sheet and was not overly troubled as Brentford picked up only their second point on their travels this season.
“I said to our goalkeeping coach that I thought Hakon had been doing very well in training and then he gets on the pitch,” said Frank. “I was very impressed. I thought he was composed and a calming influence when dealing with crosses.”
With the extent of Flekken’s injury not yet known, Frank may have to rely on Valdimarsson in some big matches, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool all set to face Brentford in the next month.
