Harlee Dean revealed he is playing through the pain barrier after returning from injury in Saturday's win at Leyton Orient.

The Brentford centre back has been sidelined for the last three games, while January signing James Tarkowski has come in and performed superbly in his absence.

But when Tarkowski was sent off five minutes into the second half at the Matchroom Stadium, Dean was called back into action perhaps sooner than expected.

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He said: “I've got a broken metatarsal in my foot and an abdominal strain. I was given the choice of, having an operation, playing or going into one of those special boots for the rest of the season.

“I didn't want to do that, so I said I'll take the pain and carry on. I'm just playing through it and getting on with it. I want to be a part of what we're doing.

“I was disappointed to start on the bench, I have only missed a couple of games. But I got my chance, and I'm trying to play better than I have done in my last few games.

“We won our battles and everybody ran themselves into the ground. We've had that character since out missing last season – it makes us come back stronger in games like these.”