Brentford boss clarifies Maupay support comments and offers backing to striker ahead of Derby test

Dean Smith looked to clarify from his comments about Brentford fans' relationship with Neal Maupay, insisting that he was asking for more from the fans than criticising them.

The Frenchman, who had been battling illness in the lead up to the game, struggled against Norwich City but, with Lasse Vibe's departure imminent, it is expected the Frenchman will lead the line.

And Smith felt that the fans were more caught up in the Dane leaving than being able to back Maupay.

The head coach said: “He's trained really well this week, which I expected. I didn't have a go at the supporters.

“I just explained that they needed to support the player. It was a tough one last week for Neal. He's come into a starting team.

“The news broke about Lasse not being available. It felt there was a feeling out there he probably had to do something special in the first 10 minutes to get everybody supporting him. Not through his own fault but people were seeing Lasse as moving on.”

He added: “He needs everybody backing him but so do all the players but that's part and parcel of things.

“We feel we're in a really good position in the league. We feel it could be a special season. There's a lot of support for Neal but, for whoever plays up front, they need support.”

The statistics would suggest that Maupay is currently better served as coming off the bench with 20 minutes to go in the game and exploiting the tired defences.

The Frenchman has scored five of his six Championship goals as a substitute in just 171 minutes. He's played 1,204 minutes from the start and scored just the once.

Admittedly, the plan was for Maupay to be more of an impact substitute at the start of the season but Vibe's heel injury hampered that and he played more minutes than originally intended.

Smith, though, said: “Lasse didn't have a good record when he started up until QPR. He was coming on as sub early in the season and scoring goals and then people wanted to see him start.

“His work ethic has never been in question, just converting chances when he's been starting games.”