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More than the midpoint of the campaign, The Bees are in fantasy land.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Samba striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A convincing 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the Premier League – a position that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

Solely leaders Arsenal have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the fight for continental football.

Few was predicting this last summer.

The former head coach had departed for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also established them in the elite division.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

Thiago has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, strong, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point highlights the standard he is operating at.

And it is not just the volume but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so pivotal for Brentford.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th opener of the season. Considering how often we are told the importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1%.

He finds the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction to provide for his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Sceptics Incorrect

Their star striker is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had key individuals – a host of talent – under Frank, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

The concern was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of their parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

Consequently, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A first managerial job is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

The new boss won just one of his first five league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have followed.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the race for Europe.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with courage and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We're pleased with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just eight points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are beating the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.