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More than halfway through the campaign, Brentford find themselves in a dream scenario.

Following four wins in their last five outings, and a Samba striker scoring the goals, suddenly Bees fans are envisioning thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A comprehensive three-nil win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

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

There's a long way to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the battle for continental football.

No one was envisioning this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also cemented them in the elite division.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and goal-scoring 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 respectively.

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

A season of struggle, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with the club in the top five.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to sign another striker was partly 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 waiting to go.

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has set about compensating 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 preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's physically intimidating, quick, strong, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are incredible. He must be so pleased. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point underscores the standard he is playing at.

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

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

Prior to the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shot accuracy rate than Igor Thiago's 59.1 percent.

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

Given the struggles 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 unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "This is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

The Manager Showing Sceptics Wrong

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

While they had star players – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The concern was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the right man.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were vindicated.

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

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

"We're in good form and playing really well. We are playing with bravery and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just eight points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

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