Ivan Toney did his case for a call-up to England's World Cup squad no harm by scoring twice as Brentford beat Brighton 2-0 on Friday.
Toney's fine backheel opened the scoring midway through the first half before another assured finish from the penalty spot ended a three-game winless run for the Bees.
Toney was called into Gareth Southgate's squad last month, but did not get a minute on the pitch in games against Italy and Germany. On Friday, he moved level with Harry Kane as the top English goalscorer in the Premier League this season with eight on his 100th Brentford appearance.
The 26-year-old improvised to flick home Frank Onyeka's cross on 27 minutes. Brentford boss Thomas Frank rates Toney as the best penalty taker in the world and he was again faultless from the spot after Joel Veltman's mistimed lunge inside the box was punished.
"I feel good. I'm ready to go," he told Sky Sports. "Obviously everyone's talking about England. Obviously I was disappointed not to get on, but you've got to keep working hard.
"You're playing with the best of the best. Without being big-headed, I didn't feel out of place.
"I felt I was ready for that step and whenever it comes along and whenever I've got the chance to get minutes, I'm ready to take my opportunity."
Brighton, who were denied by some fine saves from Bees keeper David Raya, are still looking for a first win under new boss Roberto De Zerbi.
The Italian said: "It's difficult to explain this result. It's difficult for a coach to say it was a good game when we lost 2-0.
"We had a lot of potential chances. With the last pass we made mistakes.
"Maybe this is our problem. Against Tottenham it was the same. We shot a lot of the time but could not score."
Brentford v Brighton ratings
