Kevin O'Connor has been tipped to go on and become a top coach after getting his first UEFA badge under his belt.

The Brentford veteran recently passed his B Licence exams and will next year start studying his A Licence, with the Pro one further down the line.

O'Connor made his 500th Brentford appearance on the final day of last season and is fourth on the club's all time appearances list, but has only managed to add one more to his tally this term.

Icing on the cake: O'Connor lifts the League One runners-up trophy with Tony Craig

And while Warburton admits O'Connor won't get many more opportunities to chase down the record, the Bees boss sees the 32-year-old as a vital cog in his coaching team.

He said: “Kev is getting better every day as a coach. He's done a lot of work with the development squad, and wants to take his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm into the coaching side of the game.

“He has had a great career, but he's not stupid and knows the focus has got to be on the next stage of his career now. He will look at it and think ‘where am I going to play right now?’ with a number of players ahead of him in every position.

“Kev will be the first to admit it's hard starting the coaching side of things while your body still wants to train, and you need to be able to manage that transition, but he is handling it well. Sometimes players struggle to adjust when the glamorous life of being a player stops.

"He’s got to make the transition because that’s where he is in his career. He’s got a great opportunity here and we’ll support him because he’s got so much to offer the club

“Kev reminds me of (fellow Brentford coach) David Weir. They are both very level headed and calm, but got that steely streak too. They will feed off each other.”