Dean Smith admits Brentford weren't at their best today – despite sticking four goals past MK Dons and relegating them in the process.

Sergi Canos, Lasse Vibe, Ryan Woods and Jake Bidwell were all on target as the Bees came from behind to secure the points which sent their hosts down.

It continued a fine April for Smith's troops, which has so far yielded five wins and a draw from six games.

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But the Bees boss insisted performances were often just as good when his side couldn't buy a win in the first few months of the year.

He said: “I thought the result was more satisfactory than the performance, I feel we can play better than that. We gave them a few too many chances for my liking, and it became a little bit of an open game, but we knew they would need to score goals with the position they're in

“Credit to MK Dons for the way they play the game, it keeps you on it defensively, but we scored our goals at the right times, and that's the difference in this league sometimes.

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“We had to come here with a game plan as we wanted to back up the performances that we've had in recent weeks. I told the players before the game that those performances won't get you a result today, you have to go out and work hard.

“It hasn't been as big a turnaround as everyone says. Results-wise yes, as the results were terrible, but some of the performances we've put in when we've won games haven't been to dissimilar to those in games we have lost.

“But the key in this game in putting the ball in the onion bag, and that's something we've been doing better.”

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Smith also revealed that Sam Saunders missed the game through illness, while Scott Hogan, scorer of three goals in the last two games, was rested to prepare for the forthcoming games against Hull, Fulham and Huddersfield.

He added: “Sam was ill today and we decided to rest Scott to get him ready for the last three games. It gave us a chance to have a look at a few.

“Maxime (Colin) came off for tactical reasons more than anything, as I thought the best player on the pitch today was Josh Murphy for them. He gave our full backs a tough time.”

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