Thomas Frank was relieved as Gillingham avoided a replay while Brentford won on penalties

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Thomas Frank recalled a Carabao Cup nightmare after Brentford battled past Sheffield Wednesday on penalties to reach the quarter-finals.

The Bees have been successful in the competition, reaching the last eight in three of the last five years and the semi-finals in 2021.

But they also suffered a home defeat on penalties against League Two Gillingham, following a 1-1 draw two seasons ago.

Brentford dominated the first half against Wednesday but only had Kevin Schade's early goal to show for it.

“I said at half-time it could be like Gillingham,” said Frank. “It’s a reminder of the super focus we need to have.”

The Dane's suspicions were confirmed when Djeidi Gassama equalized for the championship with a spectacular 25-yard shot on Wednesday.

Goalkeeper Mark Flekken was at fault for this goal after he botched a throw while trying to launch a counter-attack.

But Flekken made amends when he saved Liam Palmer's penalty and Brentford won the shootout 5-4.

“I am very happy to be at the end of the victory and that we have progressed. That’s why it’s so difficult to progress in these cups,” added Frank.

“We should have been 2-0 up. But this time we had five good penalties and a good save.

“The only criticism is that we didn’t score a second goal in the first half. Second half, goal for them, suddenly it’s “what happened”?

“They know their players are coming and we know they are going to run through a wall. They worked incredibly hard and were well organized.”

Frank was heavily linked with the Manchester United job before Sporting Lisbon confirmed their plan for head coach Ruben Amorim.

“I think it's nice for the ego that someone realizes that I'm part of something, but I don't focus on it too much,” he said, drawing a line under this particular saga.

“I have a great responsibility towards this club and I like it here. We are one step closer to more incredible games.”

Wednesday coach Danny Rohl made nine changes to his team and was proud of their efforts.

“An outstanding performance,” he said.

“We know it’s difficult to get there and Thomas and his team are doing really well in the Premier League.

“At half-time it was important to give the message that we need to improve on small things and in the second half we did better and showed great character to stay in the game. We stuck to our match plan.

“All in all, I rate the draw after 90 minutes as a win for our team.”