Nine more wins will take Brentford FC to promotion - if Marvin Williams has got his maths right.

The calculators have been out in the Griffin Park dressing room, with the Bees' winger and his team-mates naming 83 as the magic number needed to make the leap to League One.

Saturday's 2-0 win over Port Vale took Andy Scott's men to 56 points, three ahead of their nearest rivals, before Wycombe drew level on Tuesday night.

Indeed, 83 points has been enough to escape the Football League's lowest tier in five of the last eight seasons - it won the title for Yeovil in 2004-5 - and Williams feels it should be enough this time too.

He said: "There's been some discussion amongst the lads that 83 points has usually been enough to take you up to League One.

"We all want promotion, whether it's first, second or third. We'd love to win the league, but third place is good enough, so we'll keep plugging away trying to get results."

The first opportunity to edge closer to their goal comes on Saturday at fellow promotion-chasers Rochdale - the only team to have beaten them at Griffin Park so far this season.

And Williams insisted Brentford have come a long way since that day in early November.

He said: "We'll be out for revenge on Saturday. A few too many players had an off-day in November, and I think we were off the boil.

"But we are at the top of the table now. It's a pressure we want each week, and I think against Port Vale we've shown it's a pressure we can handle."

The 21-year-old will hope to keep his shirt for the clash with the Dale after making his first start for six games against Port Vale.

Williams proved to be one of the star turns of what Bees manager Andy Scott later described as "probably the best we have played over 90 minutes this season."

Williams admits he's been champing at the bit for a slice of the action while Adam Newton and John Halls have made the right-hand side slots their own.

He added: "It is frustrating when the lads are coming off the pitch with a victory and you're not part of it, so I was a man with a point to prove today.

"But the gaffer gave me my chance, and I'd like to think I've given him something to think about for this week."