Andreas Bjelland was honoured to be named as Brentford captain against Derby in the absence of Harlee Dean.

The regular skipper missed the 0-0 draw after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season at Newcastle on Saturday.

Dean Smith had a few candidates to choose from and elected to name Bjelland as his skipper at Derby.

The defender said: “Of course it's pleasing. We have a leadership group I'm involved in. I knew I was one of them but it's a shoulder clap to get that, especially in my first game as a centre back.

“We have small things we discuss as a group before taking it to a bigger vote later on. It's sometimes an easier to communicate to a couple of players from the gaffer and the guys upstairs.”

Brentford fans

The defender also paid tribute to the 624 fans who made the trip up to the iPro Stadium on Tuesday night.

“The fans' support is really important for us as players, when we travel, especially to the likes of Newcastle and to see them at Derby on a Tuesday night is really impressive. We appreciate it a lot,” Bjelland added.

“It was really important to bounce back after Newcastle. We didn't feel we were good enough. They did well but we didn't do well enough.

“We had to bounce back and we did that with a clean sheet and point to take home.”