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Over the midpoint of the campaign, Brentford find themselves in fantasy land.

With victories in five games, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

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

Only table-toppers the Gunners have gathered more points over the past six games.

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

Few was envisioning this last off-season.

The former head coach had departed for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was elevated to replace the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward 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 have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with Wissa's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also knew they had a £30m striker already waiting to go.

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by injury in his debut campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.

Given the countrymen who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He's been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, both feet, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point underscores the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so pivotal for Brentford.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh opener of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that early opportunity 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 finds the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into 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 abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Sceptics Wrong

Igor Thiago 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 manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of their parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

Consequently, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at Brentford, it looks as if they were correct.

The new boss won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have followed.

Results that, following their excellent recent run, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for Europe.

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

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 different.

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