Bryan Mbeumo (Exclusive): Mathematically Brentford are not safe yet. Toney? It would be great to play with him one more time

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone

Despite the 10-point cushion over Luton Town with four games to go, Bryan Mbeumo refuses to accept that Brentford are already assured of a berth in the 2024/25 Premier League season.

The Cameroonian winger dazzled as the Bees hit the Hatters for five in Bedfordshire on Saturday.

He didn't score but may have grabbed all the headlines had his first-time effort with the inside of his left foot crashed on the right side of the goal-line.

Asked by Capital Football if the Bees can look forward to a fourth consecutive season in the top-flight, Mbeumo said: "We have a good advantage but I always say that until it's not mathematically done we have to keep fighting until the end.

"It's true that we've been on a positive run and the win against Luton extends it.

"And a second consecutive victory is very auspicious.

"But everything can happen in the Premier League so we have to keep knuckling down and win our next matches."

Mbeumo and partner-in-crime Ivan Toney haven't started a Premier League game together in almost 12 months. The last time they linked up from the start in the league was in the 1-0 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool on 6 May 2023.

And with Toney linked with a move away and only 360 minutes of football left to play this campaign, Mbeumo hopes that they can go hunting for goals at least one final time.

He said: "It's true we haven't started a game together for more than a year.

"Toney and I have good connection on the pitch so it would be cool again to join forces again."

The Bees travel to Goodison to face Everton on Saturday before welcoming bitter west London rivals Fulham to the Gtech Community Stadium a week later.

Fulham represented a real banana skin for Thomas Frank's promotion bid back in 2020 with the Bees succumbing to a dream-wrecking 2-1 defeat in the play-off final at Wembley.

Yet despite not comparing to other London derbies such as Tottenham against Arsenal, West Ham versus Tottenham, the east London clash between Millwall and the Hammers or Chelsea-Tottenham, for Mbeumo it's a fixture that both sets of supporters circle in the calendar.

He said: "[Against] Fulham it's never a normal game because it's a derby.

"It will be a great game to play with two amazing sides and one where there's no love lost between the two sets of fans.

"It may not be the biggest derby but it's still a west London derby.

"It's huge and as a result there's a rivalry."