Brentford want to win the Premier League, says Ivan Toney, who sheds light on lessons learned as a youngster at Newcastle and hopes to get the better of Virgil van Dijk

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If you’re in it, you might as well try and win it.

That’s the attitude Brentford are taking ahead of the 2021/22 season, says Bees striker Ivan Toney.

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Toney gave a brilliant, wide-ranging interview with talkSPORT ahead of the new Premier League season

For a club that’s never played in the Premier League and hasn’t even been in the top tier of English football since 1947, this will seem a far-fetched aspiration to say the least.

Toney and Brentford realise that they’re not one of the top title contenders right now but they’re not there to make up the numbers.

On his and Brentford’s aims for the season, Toney told talkSPORT: “For the club, to win the league.

“We’re not going into the league to try and finish just above the relegation zone, we want to finish as high as possible which is obviously first place.

Brentford came up to the top flight via the Championship play-offs

“But we know it’s going to be a massive ask, it’s going to be a tough one. We’re going to come up against the best players in the world but we’ve just got to focus on what we do best and that’s aggressive football. We have a strong squad so who knows what we can achieve.

“Personally I just want to remain healthy throughout the season, stay focused, get a fair amount of goals and do well for my team.”

And to those tipping Brentford to go straight back down to the Championship, Toney added: “Wait and see.

“There are always going to be people who expect you to go straight back down just because we’ve never been there. But we’re hungrier than ever to remain a Premier League club. There are people that will always doubt us but we don’t listen to the haters.”

Brentford, managed by Thomas Frank, do things differently and will not care what others think

Toney is more than raring to go ahead of Brentford’s season opener having only tasted a combined ten minutes of Premier League football in his career to date.

The 25-year-old got a move to Newcastle as a teenager in August 2015, however, only made four appearances during his three-year spell with them.

His time with Newcastle was largely spent away from the north east having been loaned out on six separate occasions. Joining Peterborough proved to be a huge moment for Toney as he went to Brentford two years later.

Toney says he doesn’t have regrets from what happened earlier in his career but admits he got wrapped up in being at a Premier League club as a youngster.

Toney has only made two Premier League appearances, both five-minute spells

On the lessons he learned at Newcastle, he said: “It wouldn’t have made me the man I am today, it taught me a lot.

“All these loans I went on taught me as well. They helped me in my game and helped me progress quicker.

“Just because you’re at a Premier League club, doesn’t mean you’re a Premier League player. I was a bit naïve at the time, being 19 going into a Premier League team and everyone talking about me, it was hard not to get caught up in that.

“It’s a shame to say that I did get caught up in that and it knocked me back when I went to a League One side permanently.

Toney scored 49 goals in 94 appearances at Posh and was duly snapped up by Brentford last summer

“I wouldn’t change anything that I’ve done because I wouldn’t be here as a Premier League striker. Who knows what path I could have gone down?”

Now back in the big time – and he’ll be be hoping that will be for a long time to come – Toney wants to challenge himself against the best in the business.

On who he’s looking forward to coming up against the most, he said: “I’d say Virgil van Dijk.

“There’s all this talk of him getting the best of the majority of strikers so I’d like to be one of few to get the better of him! It’ll be a tough one but I’m excited.”

Toney may get the chance to test himself against Van Dijk when Brentford entertain Liverpool on September 25

Before finding a way to get past the Liverpool colossus, Toney must think about the Arsenal defence.

The Bees take on the Gunners in the opening match of the season in front of what will be a raucous Brentford Community Stadium crowd under the lights on Friday night.

As Brentford’s designated penalty taker, Toney joked he wants his side to be awarded an early and a late penalty but warned he and his teammates should focus on playing the same way that got them to where they are in now.

Toney said: “It’s going to be exciting. We shouldn’t get caught in the occasion, we have to concentrate.

It will be intriguing to see how Toney and Brentford fare in the Premier League

“It will be tough and a bit surreal for some players, if not the majority of us, but I feel like we have to stay calm and do what we’ve been working on throughout pre-season.

“I’m sure we’ll be alright. Not just this game but throughout the season.”

It’s more of an alright start if they can beat Arsenal. After all, a win will put Brentford in the exact spot they’re aiming to be at come the end of the season!