Alan McCormack has been warned he will have to fight for his place back in the Brentford side after finishing his five-game suspension.

The Bees midfielder will be available for Saturday's trip to Norwich City for the first time since being found guilty by the FA of using abusive words towards a match official.

It could be argued that Brentford have missed his bite in the middle during his absence, but that doesn't mean he will walk back into the side, according to manager Dean Smith.

He said: “The midfield has been picking itself without Alan being in contention, but it's limited our options. He will have to earn his place back though.

“You will always get that (people wanting him back in the team), but if you're winning games it's quickly forgotten about. If you're losing, people will look at what's not in the team at that moment.

“Alan came in and done really well against Reading. He is a good, experienced player and can play a bit too, as we saw against Reading.

“He played the next game too and then got a groin injury as well as his ban, so I doubt he would have been fit to play anyway.”