Mark Warburton heaped praise on Tommy Smith after he came off the bench to earn Brentford a point against Charlton.
The former QPR and Cardiff City forward, handed a one-year deal this week after impressing on trial, struck late on to cancel out Igor Vetokele’s opener as honours ended even at Griffin Park.
And the Bees boss insists Smith still has a lot to offer the Championship new boys.
Warburton said: "He’s 34, he’s not a veteran! He’s a clever player who needed a bit of fitness. He’s done that over the last three weeks and he’ll keep on getting fitter.
"He’s a smart player. He’d be the first to admit he’s lost some of the electric pace he had. He’s clever with the football. As you saw with his finish, he’s a good player."
Warburton was disappointed his side failed to live up to their pre-season form but hailed Brentford's character after going behind.
He added: "I'm disappointed in that we didn’t really play as we normally wanted to play our game.
"The first 15 minutes were very bright. Then I thought we were sloppy in our decision making. We didn’t do what we do so well and we looked to go a bit long.
"But it’s a testament to the players that we came back from 1-0 down. We wanted to go on and win it."
