Brentford captain Jake Bidwell believes that Chelsea loanee John Swift was guilty of naïvety over his controversial Instagram post, but believes the midfielder didn't intend to cause offence.

The Chelsea loanee posted a picture, now deleted, of mixed martial artist Conor McGregor with the caption 'Some days they love you, some days they hate you; Both days I got paid' and commented by saying 'What a guy'.

Swift had taken criticism for the post before being told to delete it and wrote: 'The last post wasn't a dig at the Brentford fans at all, I apologise'.

For the post, though, Swift was axed from the squad, where he was meant to be a substitute, as head coach Dean Smith took him out of the firing line.

Bidwell believes that the young midfielder didn't mean any offence taken by the supporters, although he could understand why it had been interpreted in such a way.

He said: “Swifty is a good lad. I can assure people he didn't mean anything by it. You could say it was naïve.

In pictures: Action from the stands at Brentford v Blackburn

“I'm sure he's learnt from it and I'm sure won't do it again. I can understand why people took it that way but I don't think he meant anything by it.”

The Bees, minus Swift, were beaten 1-0 by 10 man Blackburn and the devastated captain struggled to explain what went wrong again.

He added: “I don't know how we lost the game. We dominated the game, even against 11 men, and it's just a sucker punch at the end.

“When things are going against you, these things happen. It's hard to reflect on it. I think we should have won the game. I'm struggling for words.”

Brentford had a heated dressing room discussion after the Charlton defeat two weeks ago, which didn't make any difference in the west London derby at QPR.

Bidwell called a players-only meeting after the loss at Loftus Road, however this also has not resulted in a victory as Shane Duffy scored the only goal of the game.

In pictures: Brentford's defeat to Blackburn

And the skipper is hoping the international break will lead to a rejuvenated Brentford going into the final weeks of the season.

He explained: “The players' meeting helped the tempo on training. The performance was probably better today (than against QPR).

“I'm gutted but we've got nine games left so we've got to keep going.

“A bonding session has been discussed but the two weeks without a game gives us time to give us different options. The gaffer will put something together I'm sure.”

Brentford have to face four of the six teams below them in the table and they will need to win at least two to be sure of survival and Bidwell is determined to put things right.

He said: “The run of form is not great. We've got to play all the teams below us really. It's still in our hands so we've got to find a win from Sunday.

“The international has probably come at a good time for us. It allows us time to regroup ahead of a busy period.”