Josh McEachran has been working to improve his fitness in recent weeks in order to be able to perform for Brentford for 90 minutes.
The bulk of the former Chelsea youngster's best performances have come off the bench such as against Aston Villa and Cardiff.
He had a strong 65 minutes from the start against QPR before tiring and being replaced and that game at Loftus Road remains the only game Brentford have won with him in the starting XI.
And Smith has put part of those issues down to his injury hit campaign last year but also revealed that the penny dropped with McEachran about needing to improve his fitness to produce performances for 90 minutes.
He said: “It (his injury history) was an issue. I've seen a difference in him over the last few weeks.
“He realises where he has to be to put in a 90 minute performance and he is working hard to get there on the training ground.”
Smith knows that a run of games would help McEachran find that form but, unless the midfielder can prove to him that he can perform for 90 minutes, that will be hard to come by.
He added: “The lack of pitch time he's had. He probably needs a run of games but it's a tough league to do that if you're not right at it.
“He was excellent against QPR and lasted 65 minutes. Against Fulham he probably didn't make the impact we wanted from him and since then he's come on as a sub and made an impact.
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