Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock admitted there were no excuses for his side’s second half collapse after last season’s play-off finalists slipped to a 4-2 home defeat to Preston. 

Summer signing Ivan Toney scored a brace in the first 45 minutes to put the Bees in a commanding position going into the break but the Lilywhites hit back in astonishing style at the Brentford Community Stadium. 

Former Manchester City and Celtic star Scott Sinclair notched a quick-fire double ahead of the hour mark, before Brad Potts and Sean Maguire completed the turnaround to succumb the hosts to a first defeat at their new home. 

Brentford had conceded just twice in three games ahead of Preston’s visit and Pinnock acknowledged their defensive display was no way near their usual high standards. 

“We have great pride in our defending and we’re very disappointed to concede four goals today,” the 27-year-old said. 

“In the first half we stuck to our task well and scored two goals, but we knew what kind of team Preston are, we knew they were going to come at us and we should’ve been better prepared than we were. 

“We weren’t at the races. They were better than us at reacting, competing and picking up second balls and you can’t win games if you play like that.” 

A second defeat of the league season leaves Brentford 14th in the Championship table after four matches, and the visit of Coventry lies in store next on October 17 after the impending international break. 

Boss Thomas Frank echoed Pinnock’s verdict on the West-Londoners’ performance but is confident his charges merely suffered a blip and that they will return stronger next time around. 

He said: “I’m 100 per cent sure this is a one-off. I can’t remember seeing us concede four goals and I can’t pin down the reasons for it today. 

“I think the first half was OK without us being fantastic, and we spoke at half-time about what we needed to do better. But the goals we conceded were examples of what we didn’t do well enough and ultimately Preston deserved to win the game. 

“We need to take everything out of this game and improve. I’m sure we’ll turn it around and show better heart and attitude, and be ready to face Coventry in two weeks’ time.” 

Elsewhere, young midfielder Jan Zamburek has joined League One side Shrewsbury Town on a season-long loan deal. 

The 19-year-old Czech Republic youth international has been with Brentford since 2018, having started his career at Slavia Prague.