EXCLUSIVE Kevin Schade (Brentford): Toney is a pillar but there's life without him. Finishing above Fulham? It's possible

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone

After Brentford's 5-1 rout of Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, Capital Football exclusively caught up with Bees striker Kevin Schade. The German winger remarkably ended an eight-month injury ordeal with a neat finish late on. Here is what he said:

A win that dispels any doubts, Brentford are back: "This season has been tough, especially January and February as we faced many top teams.This year we've had many injured players and then Ivan was suspended. Our ups and downs were first and foremost down to the injuries, we had to do without five, six, seven regular starters. This has affected our consistency and the fact we didn't sign anyone [in January] made it all the more difficult. But in the end we've bounced back."

If winning without Ivan Toney like at Luton Town makes it even sweeter: "Yes, definitely but I think we also performed well without him at the end of last season. Ivan is a pillar but there's also life without him. A few points are needed before we are mathematically over the line. We've not lost in five games and we want to keep this run going."

On what would be a good finish: "Realistically we want to stay clear of the bottom of the table which is our chief target. At the same time we want to finish as high up the table as possible. And it's still possible to finish ahead of Fulham if we win them all which is our aim...."

On scoring his maiden goal since August: "I am happy about my nice goal as I was out for a long time. If I stay at Brentford? I think so, I was out for seven months and my aim now is to play my way back in."