Palmer pays penalty as Brentford win shootout against Sheffield on Wednesday | Carabao Cup

Brentford are in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the third time in five seasons and as Thomas Frank led his team to a victory lap after beating Sheffield Wednesday on penalties, the thought arose that the Dane will not think twice about the job at Manchester United missed.

There was a satisfied smile on Frank's face, although he knew that it hadn't been a completely pleasant evening for his team. Brentford made things difficult after an early goal from Kevin Schade, their concentration and intensity waned after half-time and they could have paid for their failure to eliminate their Championship opponents.

Wednesday was four points off a play-off spot and four points more than the bottom three as Danny Röhl opted to make nine changes before hosting Watford on Saturday. They were desperate in the first half, defending poorly and playing without any cohesion, but they fought hard to recover and earned their reward. There were wild celebrations when Djeidi Gassama equalized in the 57th minute.

It became a struggle for Brentford, they lacked clarity during normal playing time and their rhythm never returned. But the shooting was a different story. Wednesday's 19-year-old goalkeeper Pierce Charles couldn't get close to nerveless penalty kicks from Bryan Mbeumo, Keane Lewis-Potter, Mikkel Damsgaard, Yoane Wissa and Vitaly Janelt. “Five very good penalties,” said Frank. “A very good parade.”

Liam Palmer was the scapegoat on Wednesday, the pressure on him as he lined up for the fifth kick. He had to score to force sudden death, but Mark Flekken dived to his right to keep out a soft effort from the substitute. “It was tough,” said Röhl. “We had to make changes. We play on Saturday and then again on Tuesday. But my team did an excellent job. The message at half-time was that we need to be more connected. We showed character to stay in the game.”

Brentford were dominant for most of the first half and soon broke Wednesday's unconvincing offside trap. The opening goal came when Lewis-Potter lifted a pass over the goal line for Schade to break away from Gabriel Otegbayo and shoot into the empty net after his first attempt was saved by Charles.

The tone was set, the guests fought to wrest the ball away from Mathias Jensen in midfield. Frank called him Brentford's quarterback. Jensen resisted the pressure and continued to look for opportunities to release Lewis-Potter and Bryan Mbeumo on the flanks. Lewis-Potter was elusive and had chances to extend Brentford's lead. He fired an effort high and wide, then made an acrobatic save from Charles after firing inside a cross from Mbeumo.

Wednesday offered little apart from a dangerous run from Anthony Musaba. Dominic Iorfa summed up their growing frustration when he fired the ball into the stands after being put in trouble by a bad pass. It wasn't the greatest spectacle.

The crowd stirred as Mbeumo performed a beautiful trick that cut through two defenders and then shot straight at Charles. Fábio Carvalho's footwork often caught the eye, but his decision-making wasn't good enough.

An air of complacency spread across Brentford and they were punished after giving the ball away in midfield. Gassama strode forward and with no one challenging the winger, he fired a stunning low shot past Flekken from 25 yards. Now a real game broke out. Wednesday threatened again, Ike Ugbo stabbing Flekken's palms. Brentford responded through Mbeumo, Charles batting away his powerful drive. Ugbo then shot past the goal from a tight angle.

It took until the 82nd minute for Brentford to come back to life when Wissa turned and fed Schade, whose shot was deflected in by Charles. Penalties threatened. Flekken emerged as the winner and Frank could look forward to another cup run. He stressed that the United connections had had no impact on his concentration before this game. He said the speculation was “nice for the ego” but he has Brentford in ninth place in the Premier League and would like to continue that cup run. Frank stressed that Silverware is a realistic target if the quarter-final draw goes well. “I think we have a good chance.”