Christian Eriksen admitted every day gets easier after he marked his full debut for Brentford with a maiden win at his new club.
The Denmark playmaker was handed a first start since June 12 – when he suffered a cardiac arrest – away to Norwich on Saturday and helped the promoted side clinch a vital 3-1 victory.
It put further distance between Brentford and the relegation zone while it was another step in the right direction for the former Tottenham attacker, who has made a remarkable comeback since he “died for five minutes” at Parken Stadium and had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device fitted days later in Copenhagen.
Eriksen, who played the whole match at Carrow Road, told BBC Five Live: “I think if you take the win with it, it felt very good. I’m very happy, pleased to be back playing 90 minutes because it’s been a long time but it went very well.
“Thomas (Frank) asked me if I felt OK to play 90 minutes and I said for me that’s no problem. I feel good, I’ve been training very hard and been part of the team for a few weeks, getting used to the system they have here of how we want to play.
“It gets easier every day and playing a full game obviously helps. Personally for me it has been about getting back to full fitness and being able to play football at the top level again, then let’s see where that takes me.
“Obviously, I am here to help Brentford to stay up and get my own football career back on track.”
Frank insisted after Ivan Toney’s hat-trick inspired a first league win in nine attempts that Eriksen could realistically play every game between now and the end of the season.
The class of the 30-year-old was evident early on in Norfolk, with trademark long-range passes from both feet before his fine 32nd-minute delivery from a corner created Toney’s opener.
“I wouldn’t say it was a new chapter, it is just my life continuing,” Eriksen reflected after his first competitive start in close to nine months.
“Of course I have had a bit of a setback, it has taken a few months, but it has been about getting my family really back together and being back to being a normal family again.
“Being here now, eight or nine months later, it is incredible. Thank you to all the people and family I have around me who supported me. I am pleased to be here.”
Norwich’s fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions kept them bottom and saw them booed off.
The Canaries have little time to lick their wounds with Chelsea set to visit on Thursday, but boss Dean Smith was left frustrated with the Premier League’s decision to play the fixture so close to next weekend’s trip to Leeds, who are only six points above the basement side.
“We could play Chelsea here on Wednesday and have two days coaching before that, but the Premier League have decided to put that on Thursday so we get hardly any coaching going into the Leeds game,” he said.
“You have to deal with the hand you are dealt and we are doing that. We will keep working hard and hopefully we can turn some results around now and have some luck ourselves.”
