Brentford face a crunch week before the next international break, starting with Saturday's trip to Preston.
The Bees face a Wednesday night date with Birmingham City, and former Bees Harlee Dean, Maxime Colin and Jota, before hosting Leeds United in front of the Sky cameras next weekend.
While Preston is the focus, Smith knows that the whole week will be a key one to go into the final break until March.
“We had seven games in August and September and three in October," he said, "we'd prefer a more balanced set of fixtures.
“They're tough games in Preston away, Birmingham away and Leeds at home. Birmingham have made a change of manager. We'll know a lot about some of their players and coaching staff.
“Preston is our focus and Birmingham have a big game a the weekend (against Aston Villa). We're fully concentrating on Preston.”
