Dean Smith believes Sheffield Wednesday will be going into Saturday afternoon's meeting with added pressure after climbing into the Championship's top six.

The Owls have been in excellent form in 2016 and beat Birmingham City 2-1 last time out to move into the play-off spots.

And Smith, who spent 18 months at Hillsborough towards the end of his career, believes turning from the hunters into the hunted can have an impact.

The Brentford head coach said: “I went to watch them at Birmingham on Saturday and they've gone and spent an awful lot of money on getting Gary Hooper.

“I know an awful lot about Hoops from his time at Leyton Orient. They've got Fernando Forestieri, Ross Wallace who can hurt anybody. We have to be at our best and we'll be working on that.

“Sheffield Wednesday are now in the top six and that's an added pressure.

“Being an ex Sheffield Wednesday captain, the cauldron of Hillsborough can put an awful lot of pressure on the players themselves.”

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Against sides in the top half, Brentford have been amongst the worst teams in the division but against sides below them, the Bees are up there with the best.

Smith, though, considers this to be a nonsense and disregarded it ahead of the trip to Hillsborough.

He added: “If we could do that then all the statisticians who come up with form tables can't come up with that argument anymore. We don't pay attention to it and just focus on winning the next game.”

Smith joined Wednesday in 2003 and could not rescue them from relegation and was part of the side that consolidated in League One.

He reflected: “The club was going through a tough time. I went from League Two to the Championship.

“They were losing money and it was a tough time in the club's history. The first game was Crystal Palace away where we drew 0-0 but got relegated.

“The following season was one of transition and they got back up the season after. I know the pressures there to get promoted. When you're doing well it becomes an added pressure.”