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

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

A emphatic three-nil win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into fifth in the Premier League – a place that was sufficient to secure European football last season.

Only table-toppers Arsenal have collected more points over the past six games.

There's a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the fight for continental football.

Few was forecasting this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs 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 Christian Norgaard left for Arsenal 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.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was elevated to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A season of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

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 circumstance, with Wissa's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already ready and waiting.

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his double against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Considering the countrymen who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, quick, strong, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major 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 Brentford.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh opener of the season. Considering how often we are told the importance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1%.

He finds the target. Do that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Considering the struggles he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "It is really notable. 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 discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Showing Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

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

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 avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A first managerial job 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 one candidate was the only other option that the hierarchy 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 vindicated.

The new boss won just one of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Results that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for European qualification.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We're happy 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 little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of Europe will become.