Dejected Brentford boss Dean Smith refused to blame his side's first-half 'no show' on James Tarkowski's refusal to play against potential employers Burnley.
The defender, wanted by the Clarets, told the Bees head coach he wouldn't play against Burnley on Thursday morning.
The Bees then turned in a dismal first half which saw them go in three down at the break, courtesy of three exquisite strikes from Scott Arfield, Joey Barton and George Boyd.
But Smith, who sent the player home from the training ground after the meeting in his office, said: "I'm not going to make an excuses or blame our first-half performance on that.
"We were too deep, made the pitch big for them, didn't win second balls and allowed them to hit diagonal balls for Sam Vokes and Andre Gray, which you just cannot do."
But nervous Brentford looked edgy and indecisive against a powerful Burnley side, who could have gone in five or six ahead at the break.
It was clear the timing of the Burnley bids - Alan Judge is another target - and the Tarkowski affair affected his team mates, who were said to be angry with the 23-year-old former Oldham man.
Smith said: "I told him I thought he was making a mistake and that he may be misguided. I like the lad but we sometimes make decisions we regret and I think he may regret this one.
"He is a good kid and he surprised me but it is one of those things. The timing of the bids was also not great. It's a disappointing saga but people have to remember we are not running a January sale here. Players will only go if the players' valuations are met."
Burnley made it 13 points from six games in an emphatic first half which saw Arfield curl a beauty into the top corner, Barton do the same with a cute free-kick and Boyd volley home first time from 20 yards before Brentford replied through Judge who fired beneath keeper Tom Heaton.
Manager Sean Dyche said: "There has been a conversation between our owner and the Brentford owner over Tarkowski but as a club we always try to do business in a correct and straightforward manner. What Brentford choose to do is down to them.
"I don't know whether his absence affected Brentford and to be honest I'm only really interested in what we do and not other clubs."
And he admitted the player's refusal to play was something clubs should get used to in the modern age: "I wouldn't have done it no but it's a different era now. I had an agent once in my career but now they have them at 14 and that can change things. You have to look at the future and the future has changed for football."
On footballing matters Dyche was delighted with his side's first-half showing, which he said was among the best in his time at the club.
"In the first half we showed real quality, mixed the play up and scored three goals of real quality. It's hard to keep that up for 95 minutes but I thought that in the second half we coped fairly well with them. We expected a reaction from them and we got one," he said.
"They have some very good players at Brentford and I know Mark Warburton had a fair say in a lot of those players, but they're adopting a new model now."
Source: PA
