The Bees scraped a 1-0 win against non-League Macclesfield with an own-goal in their fourth round FA Cup game on Monday (16.02.26), and Macclesfield head coach John Rooney has now revealed the Brentford boss had nothing but kind words for his side when he visited their dressing room.
Speaking with TNT Sports, John Rooney - who is the brother of former England captain Wayne Rooney - said of Andrews: “Unbelievable touch.
”I spoke to him before the game and he has just come in and said a few words. He spoke really highly of us and they took it really seriously and prepared like they would for a Premier League side.
“I just touched on it with the lads when he left, that's a Premier League manager saying that to you. That shows what you've done in the last couple of months.”
Macclesfield were able to hold Brentford at bay for most of the game, but the Premier League side ultimately emerged victorious following a 70th-minute own-goal from Sam Heathcote.
Reflecting on the match, Andrews said: “I think a lot of clubs like us, we're normally the underdog when we go into games. Everybody wanted us to lose tonight and that's a different shift for us.
“We have to deal with that tonight and the occasion and the emotions around it. Particularly in the second half, I thought we did that really well.
“It was a really tough test, I knew it would be. The way they play, real spirit around how they approach the game. Confidence, obviously from the last round, in the way they play the game in their league.
“First half I didn't think we did certain things well enough. We did a couple of things at half-time but it was mainly the basics really. I thought we did them a lot better in the second half and eventually wore them down and got the goal we clearly needed.”
Despite the loss, Macclesfield has made history by becoming the first non-League side to defeat the titleholders Crystal Palace - a team 116 places above them - in the first round since 1909.
Brentford’s captain Nathan Collins also had nothing but praise for Macclesfield, saying they made it “extremely hard” for The Bees.
Following Brentford’s win, Brentford are to face West Ham at the London Stadium on 7 March 2026 in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
