Dean Smith has revealed there is no change in his relationship with owner Matthew Benham, despite a winless start to Brentford's Championship season.

The Bees are in the relegation zone having drawn three and lost four of their first seven games.

While this would be a cause for alarm at other clubs, the west Londoners could argue that, if the games were played again, they'd have 21 points such has been their high performance levels.

And Smith's post-match conversations with Benham are routine and there has been no change in their relationship.

“I speak to Matthew after every game. The conversations are normal. There's no change,” he said.

“We concentrate on the performances and the performances have been good. We haven't had the results with them.

“We can't control the results. We can control our performances but we can't control the results as there are too many random things that can be involved in results.”

Clubs are even quicker at pressing the panic button in the modern age with Crystal Palace sacking Frank de Boer after just four games.

Benham has shown himself happy to make a change, dispensing with Marinus Dijkhuizen two months into the season.

But the owner's relationship with Smith is much better than it was with the Dutchman and no change at the top is expected at this stage.

Brentford FC main investor and owner-to-be Matthew Benham

Smith said: “I've not spoken to Matthew about the situation. I've not been thinking about it. The Cyrstal Palace manager lost his job after four games.

“What they've learnt after four games I don't know. That's a very harsh dismissal in my opinion. I really enjoy the job and I am keeping going with it.”

Opposing managers have been complimentary about Brentford after they have either won games or picked up a point they scarcely deserved.

While it can be seen as a sign that the Bees are playing well, fans would rather hear them say 'I don't know how we lost to Brentford.'

Smith pointed out: “I'd rather them saying Brentford are good team and I can see how we got beaten.

“We've played seven games so I've seen eight teams including ourselves and I think we've been the best one out of the eight teams.

“We've not got the points tally that backs that up. The reason we lost at Sheffield Wednesday was because we switched off from a corner. We didn't win the game as we didn't take our chances.”

Despite the poor results, Smith hasn't seen a drop in confidence although there has been, understandable, frustration from all in the camp.

He added: “If I sensed that there was a dip in confidence then I'd deal with it. Looking at the performances we're getting I don't see that.

“There was a disappointment in the dressing room and a frustration but you do a debrief and you show them the little details we can get right to prevent the goals we conceded but a lot of the positives that we do and how it takes a couple of games to turn things around.”

Smith's calm demeanour on the touchline has wound some fans up but that same style is there on the training ground and comes across in press conferences.

He explained: “You can't (get emotionally high or low) in this game I think. It's a random game at times and I feel the players need to see from the head coach that we're doing the right things.

“If I come in today and go we need to change everything then what we've been doing before is a waste of time and a waste of energy. You lose people then.

“They see people believing in what we're doing and they believe in that as well.”