Dean Smith expects Ollie Watkins to be fit for Brentford's final game of 2017 against Sheffield Wednesday.
The lively forward missed the 2-1 win over Aston Villa with a foot injury sustained in the victory over Norwich on Friday night.
However, Smith is confident that he will be able to return to the squad to take on the managerless Owls.
The Bees head coach said: “He hurt his foot against Norwich on Friday. He didn't train Saturday or Sunday. He failed a fitness test but he should be back on Saturday.”
John Egan also missed the game with a head injury and Smith felt it wasn't worth the risk and hailed Chris Mepham who has performed well in his place.
He added: “John took a whack to the head. We think it's mild concussion so we couldn't risk him for the game but young Chris Mepham did very well.”
The fact of the matter is Brentford have a midfielder Nico Yennaris at right back, centre back Yoann Barbet at left back and the inexperienced but talented Mepham in the middle which shows how the club are down to the bare bones.
And Smith believes the victories over Villa and the Canaries prove how strong a squad he has.
He explained: “I think tonight showed we've got a really good squad of players. We were down to the bare bones with Ollie out, John Egan out. It was too early for Henrik and Josh Clarke.
“We've got young Ilias on the bench, young Mads on the bench and Alan Judge there as well. I'm really pleased with the character shown.
“There was a lot of claret coming out of heads, noses, legs in the last five or six minutes. The lads put their bodies on the line and Dan Bentley made a great save at the end.”
