Brentford star credits team-mate and coach for ‘best’ season

By Tom Moore Friday, January 4, 2013
7:00 AM

Brentford goalkeeper Simon Moore has hailed Richard Lee and Simon Royce for helping him to his best season at the Griffin Park outfit.

The 22-year-old kept his seventh clean sheet of the campaign as the Bees drew 0-0 with Bournemouth on New Year’s Day and had to be on top form to keep a rampant Cherries attack at bay in the second half.

The performance was not his best of the season as he made crucial saves against Oldham and Sheffield United in closely-fought victories earlier in the campaign and he admitted that he felt in the best shape of his career, “This season has been the best season I’ve had at Brentford,” Moore told London24.

“I’m learning from Richard Lee and learning week in week out.

“Both he and Simon Royce have had a huge influence on how I’ve done this season.”

Lee has been a big supporter of Moore and has backed him to reach the Premier League one day, much to the youngster’s delight.

He added: “It’s a massive compliment. Rich is like an older brother to me. It’s a very nice compliment and I hope to prove him right one day.”

Moore’s opposite number in the draw with the Cherries was David James, who made 536 Premier League appearances keeping a record 173 clean sheets in the process, and the former England international was complimentary of the 22-year-old’s game.

When informed of this the goalkeeper replied: “I got David James’ shirt after the game. I was watching Premier League Years and he was on there. 1992-93 season.

“To get a compliment from someone like that is huge.”

Both Brentford and Bournemouth extended their unbeaten runs to 12 and 16 respectively, much to the delight of Moore and he expects both sides to be challenging at the top come the business end of the campaign.

“I was delighted,” he added. “Bournemouth are a very good side and I think a draw was a fair result.

“I really do[think both sides will be up there].

“They are an excellent side and come the end of the season we’ll both be up there.

“Five points in three games [over the festive period] is not bad at all. We’re on a fantastic run and we have to keep that going.

“I think we can sneak into the automatic places. We’re only halfway through the season.

“We’ve got to keep putting in the hard work, week in week out.

“We have to keep going through the course of the season.”

Brentford travel to Southend on Saturday for an FA Cup third round clash and revenge is on Moore’s mind but the stopper is itching to reach the fourth round.

He explained: “We lost to them a few weeks ago. You want to be in the draw the next day.

“If we can get through Southend, we’ll see how we go.”

After that game, the Bees face a difficult trip to Oldham as they look to keep the unbeaten run going and the 22-year-old knows it is going to be a challenging fixture.

He said: “When you come back to the league it’s tough. We’re on good form and long may it continue.”