Record signing Andreas Bjelland is going to have his work cut out this season.

Not only is the centre back out to help Brentford into the Premier League, but there is also the small matter of getting Denmark to the European Championships and landing a place in the squad for Euro 2016 in France.

The Danes are second in Group I prior to the start of the new Championship campaign that will see the 27-year-old potentially play 46 league games in a season for the first time in his career.

The former FC Twente defender is aware it will be a new mental and physical challenge and believes getting away from the game as much as possible is only going to help him cope with life in English football. “There is a lot of games, we have seven games in August, but that is a challenge for me as a player,” he said.

“But if you do it right, get your rest, put your head away when you are off, do something else and do something with your family then hopefully you will be fit for the next game.

“Dutch football is a lot more technical where the Championship is more physical and you get into more physical duels with the opposition and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

He added: I spoke to the national coach before I joined Brentford.

“It is a big goal to get to the Euros and hopefully we can qualify.

“If I play every weekend and Tuesday then hopefully I’ll be in the squad.”

And after Brentford’s run to the Championship play-offs last term, Bjelland is keen to manage expectations of repeating that effort this time.

“We hope we can improve,” he said.

“It is a tough league with a lot of good teams.

“People will expect more than last year, so there is a lot more pressure.

“It is going to be tough, but we will work on doing better than last season.”