"I didn't really blink an eyelid, making so many changes." Keith Andrews said that after Brentford's 6-1 Carabao Cup second-round win over Birmingham at St Andrew's, and the scoreline gave him the sort of proof managers usually hope rotation brings. Brentford made eight changes from the side that beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0, with only Nathan Collins, Dango Ouattara and Vitaly Janelt keeping their places.

Andrews' view on Brentford depth

Andrews was even more direct about the selection call. "There is a huge narrative around cup games with coaches making changes, but with the squad we have, there are fine margins between who plays and doesn't play. We needed to compete really hard to play the game we wanted. I thought overall we had a really good performance," he said.

That lines up with Brentford's recent league form, which has brought three wins in their last five. The club also finished 9th in the 2025 Premier League season with 53 points, so this was not a ragged cup side scraping through with patched-up resources. It looked like a squad Andrews trusts to handle the schedule, and he named the depth as the reason he could make so many changes without worrying about the level dropping.

The rotated front line delivers

The performance itself backed him up. Callum Wilson opened the scoring in the sixth minute, Nathan Collins scored twice and Jaidon Anthony added three assists. Wilson has only 12 minutes for Brentford this season, so his goal was a sharp start rather than a continuation of a long run in the side.

For Collins, the brace was the standout from a defender who is normally there to stop chances, not finish them. Anthony's three assists were the other eye-catching number from the night, and it is the kind of output that makes a rotated bench look deeper than a simple list of names. Chris Davies' Birmingham were outplayed before the tie had much chance to settle.

Brentford are through after a night that strengthened Andrews' case for rotation, and their next league outing will show whether the confidence from St Andrew's carries back into the Premier League.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →