Thomas Frank admitted Pontus Jansson is in for a “fiery” atmosphere at Elland Road when Brentford take on Leeds United this Wednesday – but the Bees captain is relishing the occasion.

The defender, who signed a three-year deal at Griffin Park, said Leeds sold him to “balance the books” and stay in line with FFP rules.

He also hinted at struggling to have a close relationship with former boss Marcelo Bielsa due to language issues in his interview with Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

After being sold to Brentford for an undisclosed fee, Jansson was soon made captain and since become a key figure at the heart of their defence.

The midweek clash with promotion favourites Leeds will be his first appearance at Elland Road since leaving, where he spent two years and made 115 Championship appearances.

Despite the circumstances, Frank believes Jansson could even “grow” from the experience as a player.

In his pre-match press conference, Frank said: “I think he's all up to it and looking forward to that game massively.

“Of course, he hopes, and we all hope, that we can write a nice fairytale. That we go up there and win and he scores the winning header, that would be beautiful. It's not often going to be like that but he's up for it, we're up for it, but it's just like another game.

“We know that they [the fans] will probably be on him every time he has the ball or something like that but it's football.

“The funny thing is when you're at the game you sometimes don't listen to the fans. You hear that there's a lot of sound but it's just there, and if it's higher or lower then you don't notice in a way unless you lose your focus. That's when they can get into your head.

“But if you're in it it's just like another game.”

Frank has also called upon other senior squad members to step up and take responsibility in the Leeds game, and wants “seven or eight” other players to produce high-quality performances in what will be a tough fixture against the league’s leaders.

He added: “The first three games and the following 42 games he [Pontus] needs to be a leader. He needs to be a strong personality for us and he has shown already that he is a strong personality in many, many good ways.

“But we also need more than Pontus to step up.

“In a game like that, you need at least seven or eight players to hit a good, slash top, performance. Then you can have two or three who don't hit the top [level].

“We need more than Pontus to step up and more than him to take responsibility and leadership.”