Report and reaction: Brentford 0 Plymouth Argyle 1 | OneFootball

Morgan Whittaker struck late as Brentford fell to a 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup third round.

Whittaker’s long-range effort, which flew past Hákon Valdimarsson in the 82nd minute, proved to be the difference in a game of few chances at Gtech Community Stadium.

As revealed by Thomas Frank in his pre-match press conference, left-back Rico Henry made his long-awaited return from injury, while Ji-soo Kim and Paris Maghoma were named in a starting XI for the first time.

The first opening fell to the Bees. Fábio Carvalho, having returned to the side after a two-game absence, robbed Caleb Roberts and skipped towards the edge of the box. Conor Hazard pushed the forward’s well-struck effort out for a corner.

Hazard thwarted Carvalho again on 15 minutes, diving to his right to turn the forward’s snapshot around the same post.

At the other end, Callum Wright cut in from the left and forced Valdimarsson into a smart stop.

Matthew Sorinola’s corner was then flicked wide by Victor Pálsson.

Yehor Yarmoliuk and Henry both had shots blocked at the end of an uneventful first half.

Four minutes after the restart, Callum Wright received a pass from Bali Mumba and delivered a low cross from the left, but Valdimarsson pounced on the ball in the Bees’ six-yard box under pressure from Michael Baidoo.

Valdimarsson made another confident claim after a short corner routine from the visitors.

On 65 minutes, Matthew Sorinola ghosted in at the back post to connect with Wright’s dangerous delivery from the left, but his header flew over the crossbar.

Moments later, Mikkel Damsgaard cushioned the ball down for Carvalho on the edge of Argyle’s box and his effort took a deflection on its way wide of Hazard’s left post.

Whittaker’s long-range strike looked like it had some venom behind it but a deflection off team-mate Wright took the ball away from goal.

On 76 minutes, Plymouth captain Adam Randell made a brave sliding block to prevent substitute Yoane Wissa from testing Hazard with a shot from the centre of the box. Nathan Collins’ header, connecting with the resulting corner, was blocked in a crowded area.

Carvalho shot wide after some more good work from Wissa before Plymouth took a surprise lead at the Gtech.

Whittaker drifted in from the right and struck hard and low beyond Valdimarsson from the edge of the area.

With Wissa waiting to pounce, Bryan Mbeumo’s in-swinging cross was headed away by Julio Pleguezuelo as the Bees went in search of an equaliser, but it wasn’t to be for Thomas Frank’s side on a frustrating afternoon in TW8.

Brentford: Valdimarsson; Roerslev, van den Berg (Collins 71), Ji-soo, Henry (Lewis-Potter 63); Yarmoliuk (Mbeumo 63), Maghoma (Wissa 71), Jensen; Damsgaard, Carvalho; Schade

Subs not used: Flekken, Meghoma, Konak, Yogane, Arthur

Plymouth Argyle: Hazard; Pálsson, Pleguezuelo, Galloway (Puchacz 81); Sorinola, Roberts, Randell (Gyabi 81), Mumba; Whittaker, Wright (Ogbeta 90+1); Baidoo (Bundu 60)

Subs not used: Grimshaw, Szucs, Cissoko, Al Hajj, Issaka

Attendance: 16,790

Frank on 'disappointing' result and performance

Thomas Frank examined Brentford's FA Cup defeat to Plymouth on Saturday.

“It was a disappointing result and a disappointing performance,” the Bees boss said.

“You can lose, and then you can lose in a way that’s not top - we didn’t lose in the best way today because we didn’t hit our highest level.

“Congratulations to Plymouth; they did well and they deserved the win. We had the ball a lot, we tried a lot, but we didn’t have the cutting edge.

“The way Plymouth defended with structure, with character and with effort made it very difficult for us. That, combined with us not hitting our top level today, was a bad combination.

“They scored a good goal from the guy that we knew could score the goal, which lost us the game.”

Henry: Gtech return an unbelievable feeling

Brentford defender Rico Henry made his long-awaited return in Saturday’s defeat to Plymouth.

The full-back had not appeared for the first team since suffering a serious knee injury during a visit to Newcastle United in September 2023.

“It was an unbelievable feeling, coming out and hearing the fans again. I can’t describe it,” said Henry.

“It was really difficult, particularly at the start with the pain and knowing it was going to be a long time out, but I’m back now and feeling good. I can’t wait to get going again.

“Today was disappointing, but we’ve got loads of games coming up, so we have to look forward and stay positive.”