Brentford 'launch investigation' into injury crisis - after suffering 29 blows this season - which has left them without players such as Rico Henry and Josh Dasilva long-term

Brentford have launched an internal investigation into their injury problems after suffering 29 blows this season. 

Long-term injuries have left Brentford without stars such as Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva,, Ben Mee, and Aaron Hickey.

The Bees have tumbled closer to the relegation places than they would like, sitting just four points above the bottom three after a run of nine games without a win. 

Many clubs have been hit hard by injury crises this year and while Brentford haven't had the most absences, their variety of long-term issues is unusual. 

As a result, they have started a review - similarly to Manchester United - into why so many injuries have occurred and how they can slash recovery times, Thomas Frank revealed. 

'Of course, it is serious — we have had too many injuries', he said.

'We're doing a big review into what kind of injuries we've had and how quickly they [injured players] have returned to be able to play. That's what we look into across all the departments — the coaching staff, sports science, performance department and medical department. Everything is linked.

'The main thing is that we've been very unlucky. A lot of contact injuries, a lot of big injuries like ACLs that are difficult to do something about. But we are still looking into what it is we can do to improve everything in terms of how can we avoid it.

'Contact injuries are difficult [to avoid], but how can we improve to get players back quicker? It has just been flagged. Because we've had so many, can we do something? That's what we're looking into.'

Brentford play Sheffield United at 3pm today in what could be a pivotal game in their bid to stay in the Premier League.

They finished ninth last term and while they should have enough to avoid the drop, their inability to find a win has led to concern.

A 2-1 defeat away at Burnley last month was a disappointing end to a game that they should have taken more away from.