WHEN Steve Cook went down with a knee injury during the first half of Cherries’ Championship play-off semi-final first leg on Monday – Brentford boss Thomas Frank must have known what was coming.

One of the players he publicly said he enjoyed working with at the Bees was coming off the bench for the Dorset club to try to thwart him.

Brentford, of course, was the club that gave the Wales international Chris Mepham his chance back in football – an opportunity he grasped with both hands.

The Hammersmith-born star began his youth career at Chelsea but was released at the age of 14. Failed trials with Watford and boyhood club Queens Park Rangers followed.

The centre-back was spotted playing for North Greenford’s reserve team before being signed by the Bees, going on to play 48 times for the club at senior level.

Mepham played 10 games under boss Frank before sealing a £12million move to Vitality Stadium in January 2019.

Speaking back then following the centre-back’s departure, Frank said: “When I arrived Chris was just breaking through to the first team and he has worked incredibly hard with all the coaches over the past two years to get to the stage where he is joining an established Premier League team.

"I have enjoyed working with him over that time and he has done a very good job for us.

"We are sorry to see him leave but have done well without him in the team in recent weeks and have a strong crop of talented central defenders that can help us progress as a club.”

Since his departure from west London, Mepham has gone on to make 55 appearances under three different managers at Cherries.

Should captain Cook not be available to feature at Brentford Community Stadium for the second leg on Saturday, Mepham could be called on for one of the biggest tests of his club career.

So with the 23-year-old poised to face up against Frank and his troops once more, what has the Danish boss made of his progress at Cherries?

He told the Daily Echo: “Good question. I need to say I haven’t watched him that much, so it’s a little bit difficult.

“But I think it’s a player with a big potential. He’s still a young player and I think he has been slightly unlucky with injuries down here.

“I think he’s got a lot of the abilities we want in a modern centre-back. He’s quick, he’s lean, he’s composed on the ball, he’s aggressive.

“He will only get better the older he gets to take the good decisions. I think that’s the bit – to take the good decisions in the two-v-two, three-v-three – to constantly be in the right area.

“I think he’s got all the abilities to be a really good defender.”

Frank will be hoping Mepham does not showcase all his abilities if selected against the Bees on Saturday – as Cherries hold a 1-0 advantage heading into the second contest.

Another clean sheet for Woodgate’s side means they would book their ticket to Wembley for the play-off final – facing either Barnsley or Swansea on May 29.

Quizzed on what kind of temperament Mepham possessed when he worked alongside him, Frank replied: “I would say a top mentality. Extremely aggressive.

“Every day in training he was one of the players that was driving the training. That mentality where you think ‘hmm, okay, he will get a good career’.”

Reflecting on his time under Frank in west London, Mepham told the Cherries website: “When I was there, Brentford were seen as a mid-table club.

“They always wanted to push into the top six but, for whatever reason, it never quite happened.

“Thomas came in and, initially, it took a bit of time for what he wanted from the players to transfer on to the pitch.

“But they have been right up there for the past two seasons and gone very close to automatic promotion. I think they have pushed on this season from last.

“The amazing thing is that they always sell their so-called better players and replace them with just as good players. That’s credit to the club’s philosophy and certainly to the manager.”