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More than the midpoint of the season, Brentford are in a dream scenario.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

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

Only leaders Arsenal have collected more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the fight for European football.

Few was forecasting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had left for Tottenham 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 top flight.

Skipper Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

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

A year of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

The Brazilian's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until deadline day.

But they also were aware they had a £30m striker already ready and waiting.

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

The 24-year-old has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He is physically intimidating, quick, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are incredible. He must be so proud. That's a huge compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point shows the standard he is operating at.

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

His opener against the opposition was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be overstated.

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

He hits the target. Achieve that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships 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 pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the kind 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 well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is improving his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

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

The fear 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 twelve months at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

So far, 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 a single of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have since occurred.

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

"We're in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and conviction 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 fourth and 15th are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

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