Dean Smith believes Brentford are able to hold onto their best players as he believes the club have something special brewing.

Watching the Bees on the pitch it looks like the squad are in a park, with jumpers for goalposts, enjoying themselves in their football.

And Smith believes that the west Londoners, who have had to sell their leading players in the last few transfer windows, have a chance to keep hold of them in the summer.

He said: “I'd like to think we can hold onto our players. They look like they're enjoying their football at the moment.

“That could be one of the reasons why players want to stay. There was a stat about James Tarkowski spending the most minutes on the subs bench.

Dean Smith

“I think players, or the ones I've worked with, want to play so it can get frustrating when you're not playing.

“We've had frustrated players when they're not getting the minutes. We want to keep our best players but economics dictates at every club with the exception of Man City, Barcelona and Real Madrid.”

Smith, though, knows that if Brentford are to push for the play-offs next season they will need to strengthen in the summer.

He added: “We need to add to the squad. At the moment, we're stockpiling with B team players into our squad to fill that up on a matchday and while that's great but if we want to challenge for a top six spot we need to add to it.”