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More than the midpoint of the season, Brentford find themselves in dreamland.

With four wins in their last five outings, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A convincing three-nil win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last term.

Solely table-toppers Arsenal have accumulated more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There's a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are firmly in the fight for continental football.

No one was forecasting this last summer.

Thomas Frank had left for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also established them in the top flight.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was promoted to replace the Dane, 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 top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to timing, 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 ready and waiting.

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his debut campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

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

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He is a physical specimen, quick, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point shows the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so important for his team.

His opener against the Black Cats was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Given how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that early opportunity 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 percent.

He hits the target. Do that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the struggles he had in his youth, where he labored in construction to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This is really notable. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Incorrect

Igor Thiago is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a gamble.

A first managerial job is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the jump from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other option 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 the club, it looks as if they were spot on.

Andrews won just a single of his first five league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for European qualification.

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

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have no other option, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

But, for now, Brentford are defying the predictions. And the longer that continues, the closer to fruition those aspirations of Europe will become.