Christian Eriksen set for emotional Denmark return despite Brentford setback

Christian Eriksen is on course to complete his remarkable return to international action with Denmark despite missing Brentford's latest game due to Covid.

Eriksen was a notable absentee from Brentford's 2-1 loss at Leicester City on Sunday after tested positive for the virus. But Bees boss Thomas Frank still expects the former Spurs midfielder to be available to link up with his national team later this coming week.

It is the first time that Eriksen, who joined the Bees in January, has been named in Denmark's squad since his cardiac arrest while playing against Finland in a Euro 2020 group match last summer.

Denmark play friendlies in the Netherlands on Saturday (March 26) and at home against Serbia three days later.

And the ace is still set to join up with his international team-mates for training in Spain prior to the two games. Frank, who is Danish, said: "The national team are due to meet Monday and they are in touch with Eriksen.

"Perhaps he will arrive a couple of days later. It would be fantastic to see him play for Denmark again. It was a big milestone to get him on the pitch again for us. It would be a big milestone to play for Denmark again after that it is just football."

The playmaker, 30, was fitted with an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) - a type of pacemaker - after his cardiac arrest against Finland. He joined Brentford in January following his release by Inter Milan. Eriksen made his first appearance for the Bees as a substitute in a defeat against Newcastle United on February 26.

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The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was given a standing ovation from fans and players on both sides when he came on after 52 minutes. He said afterwards: "If you take away the result, I'm one happy man. To go through what I've been through, being back is a wonderful feeling."

Inter Milan and Eriksen agreed to cancel his contract in December because players fitted with an ICD cannot compete in Serie A. The Premier League does not however have the same regulations. After leaving the Serie A club he trained at Odense Boldklub, the Danish team he represented as a teenager, before signing for Brentford.

Following the game against Newcastle, Eriksen played the full game for Brentford in wins against Norwich City and Burnley. In January Eriksen thanked the football world for the support he received in the wake of his horiffic collapse on the pitch in Copenhagen.

He said: "It was amazing that so many people felt a need to write or send flowers. It had an impact on so many people, and they felt a need to let me and my family know. That makes me very happy. At the hospital, they kept saying I'd received more and more flowers. It was weird, because I didn't expect people to send flowers because I'd died for five minutes.

"It was quite extraordinary, but it was very nice of everyone, and it's been a big help to me to receive all those best wishes. And people still write to me. I've thanked people I've met in person.

"But all the fans who've sent thousands of letters and emails and flowers, or who've come up to me on the street both in Italy and Denmark, I thank them all for the support I got from all over the world that helped me through this."