Ivan Toney's first Brentford game back after betting ban is bad news for one Big Six club

Brentford are set to welcome Ivan Toney back just in time for one of their key clashes with a Big Six side.

The Bees will be without Toney until January 17, 2024 after he was given an eight-month ban for breaching the FA's betting rules on over 250 counts. He'll be allowed to train with them once half of it has passed.

They know now exactly which games their star man will miss with the Premier League fixtures for next season released on Thursday morning (June 15).

He'll be absent for their home clashes against Tottenham and Arsenal as well as trips to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Etihad. But after Toney returns, Brentford's next outing is away at Spurs on January 30.

In fairness, they did just fine without him in north London in their second to last game of the season in May, winning 3-1 on their travels.

It remains to be seen whether Toney will stay at the Gtech Community Stadium too. The 27-year-old's 20 top-flight goals in 33 appearances before being banned made him the league's third top scorer.

And that's undoubtedly put him on the radar of clubs who are in the market for a striker this summer, such as Chelsea and Manchester United.

Wherever he is come the end of the transfer window, he won't be playing for some time. It emerged last month he narrowly avoided a lengthier 15-month ban because he pleaded guilty to the majority of the charges and was diagnosed with gambling addiction.

After Toney was slapped with the ban, England boss Gareth Southgate questioned whether the conditions were too harsh.

He said: "Not being allowed to play is one thing but not being allowed to be within the football community, we have to be really careful how we do that.

“He accepted the punishment. What bothers me is we must look after people. He’s injured, what does he do about getting fit? How do we give him structure over the next few months so he can be a better person at the end?

“I don’t like the idea we leave somebody so they aren’t allowed to be part of the football community. I don’t think that’s how the best rehabilitation programmes would work."