Dean Smith is all too aware of the dangers Tom Bradshaw could pose to his Brentford side today, the striker having been a goal machine for him at Walsall.
Smith picked up Bradshaw from Shrewsbury in the summer of 2014 when Walsall boss, and the frontman went on to score 40 goals over two seasons for the Saddlers before being snapped up by Barnsley.
Bradshaw managed just eight goals in his debut season for the Tykes but has already passed that total this term for today's visitors to Griffin Park, with 10 goals so far.
“I had Tom Bradshaw at Walsall for a couple of years and he's a Welsh international now,” said Smith.
“He looks like he's doing really well at this level, and he's certainly one we'll have to watch out for. If he plays, we will pass on some information about him to our defenders
“But they've got Harvey Barnes out wide as well who's been exceptional this season. They've got a number of players we have to be careful about.
“But it's about us, and if we turn up with the right application and play the football we know we can, we'll make it difficult for most teams at this level.”
While Brentford's own form has been up and down since the last international break, Barnsley have lost their last five ir a row and slipped into the Championship drop zone, but Smith's still not expecting an easy ride.
“They're not on the best of runs at the moment, but Paul Heckingbottom did a fantastic job with them last season,” said Smith.
“They finished in the top half of the table and they will be looking to do that again, but have just hit a poor run of form.
“They lost a lot of players and are a very young squad, but they're certainly very aggressive when they attack. They've got some good young players who can hurt anybody.
“They came and did a job on us at home last season and we had a tough battle at their place, so we now how tough a task it will be, and we'll give them the respect they deserve.
“We saw last year that they have some very good players, and even given the form they're in it will be a tough game. This league can be very challenging and form can change very quickly.”
The dire home defeat to Barnsley was one of the low points of last season, and Smith warned against expecting to beat certain teams, despite Brentford's good home form this term.
“I think the expectations at the time were it was Barnsley coming to us having been out of the Championship for a number of years and we should be able to turn them over – but football in the Championship is not like that,” he added.
