New Brentford captain Nathan Collins on the changes at the club this summer, his future and Yoane Wissa | OneFootball

New Brentford captain Nathan Collins says he is relishing the chance to help lead Brentford through a time of big change at the club.

Collins was officially named as the Bees’ new skipper on Saturday following the departure of Christian Norgaard to Arsenal earlier this summer, and celebrated his appointment with a well-taken headed goal against local rivals Queens Park Rangers in a pre-season friendly later that day.

Alongside Norgaard, last season’s top scorer Bryan Mbeumo has also departed for Manchester United, while Keith Andrews has replaced long-serving head coach Thomas Frank, who has joined Tottenham.

“Of course, you’re always disappointed to lose players of that quality,” Collins said when asked about Mbeumo and Norgaard leaving.

“They deserve the opportunity. What they’ve done for us last season, what they’ve done for Brentford as a whole is unbelievable.

“They deserve these opportunities. This club moves on. We get on with it.

“We have new players coming in for those positions, new players who want that shirt, who want to fight for that position. It’s a new challenge. Someone else has to step into that role.

“In football, it moves quick. Players move on, managers move on. It happens quickly and you have to get your head around that.

“In this club, we’ve bounced back. There’s a lot of good people in the background who are in the same job, helping and pushing us. It’s an exciting challenge this season.”

Brentford’s second top scorer of last season, Yoane Wissa, has also been the subject of interest from other clubs this summer.

The 28-year-old left the team’s training camp in Portugal last month and missed the friendly win over QPR, but boss Andrews says he is looking forward to “welcoming back” the forward to team training.

Collins also says he hopes Wissa stays this summer: “We all know Wissa. He’s a lovely lad. He’s a good guy. Even around the changing room, he’s a good personality. It’s up to him what he wants to do.

“It’s not going to affect us too much on the pitch. If he’s here, great. If he’s not, then we move on.

“It’s up to him. It’s his decision. No one else can help him with that. We’ll see what happens.”

Collins himself has also been linked with other clubs this summer, including a possible reunion with Frank at Spurs, but says he is firmly focused on helping steer Brentford through this period of change.

“My focus is here,” he said. “We’re ready to go for the season. One more friendly, get a full 90 in that and be ready and raring to go for Nottingham Forest.

“It’s a dream as a kid to be able to captain a team in the Premier League,” Collins said on being named captain. “I’m excited for the challenge.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s an easy group to captain. I have a lot of good people, a lot of experienced people here that I can bounce off and use for information or whatever I need. I’m going to enjoy it.”