Bees' Balkestein eyes league turnaround (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Bees' Balkestein eyes league turnaround

8:00am Friday 27th November 2009

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Bees defender Pim Balkestein is hoping an FA Cup triumph over Walsall can provide the spark for an upturn in the side’s league form.

The 22-year-old on-loan Ipswich Town centre-back made his second start for Brentford in Tuesday nights 1-0 defeat at bottom-club Wycombe Wanderers.

Balkestein, on-loan at Griffin Park for a month and ruled out of this weekend’s second round clash, has arrived in west London in a bid to prove himself worthy of a place in Portman Road boss Roy Keane’s first team plans.

And he believes one win could be the turning point for manager Andy Scott’s men as they bid to keep their distance from the League One drop zone.

“I think confidence is the problem at the moment and that is very similar to the situation at Ipswich,” he said.

“One win can change that and you can see the confidence run through the team.

“That is what we need. Hopefully, it will come on Saturday and we can build on it from there.

“We should have beaten them 3-0 at the weekend, but that is football. It would be nice to come back into the team after a good win.”

Balkestein has made 30 first team appearances for the Tractor Boys, but has been out-of-favour under Keane since his side’s 4-0 defeat to Newcastle United in September.

The chance to join the Bees came up last week and having faced Scott’s side during pre-season the Dutchman jumped at the opportunity to get some action.

He added: “I’ve played a lot at Championship and I know I’m capable of playing at that level. It is a case of proving that to the manager.

“I need to get a few games under my belt. A few League One clubs came in for me, but they were too far away from Ipswich and I hadn’t heard of them.

“We played Brentford during pre-season so I knew how they played and have heard good things about them and the manager. It was an easy choice.”

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