Brentford legend Marcus Gayle believes there is so much potential in the current Bees squad.

The west Londoners have had three successive top 10 finishes in the Championship and have achieved that, despite having a string of injuries to key players.

Alan Judge, Lewis Macleod and Josh McEachran missed significant chunks of the season through injury and Gayle believes that, once they return, the west Londoners can go from strength to strength.

He said: “There’s so much potential at the club. We saw the true potential of the team and what they can achieve over the last three or four months in terms of how they’ve played.

Alan Judge

“The bench was a bit stronger than it was. The two Spanish wingers coming back has been a massive help. Vibe top scorer again.

“We’ve got four good centre backs that can compete and four full backs that can compete. There’s still healthy competition.

“The injured players out to come back in Judge, Macleod and McEachran. If you add those to the squad that’s a serious squad.”

Henrik Dalsgaard

Brentford are expected to be adding further to their squad after bringing in Henrik Dalsgaard and Luke Daniels.

The club do have their B team and Gayle told them to force the club to put the wallet away and select them instead.

He added: “Maybe there are a few additions and you’ve got the B team players able to knuckle down and make the club not sign someone.

“That’s how I used to think. I used to hate it when someone came into my place and I felt that’s my future spot and hopefully the B team players can think that.

“Dean Smith will give them a chance but they have to be in that position in the first place. People like Reece Cole may hope they don’t sign a midfielder and I told him that it’s up to you. Go out there and stake a claim and make it a difficult decision.”

Work has started: Lionel Road

With the Lionel Road Stadium looking more of a reality, Gayle believes that Brentford will soon be able to kick on again.

He added: “The club has got a great potential. It’s still punching above it’s weight. I hope the club can stay at that level, get the new stadium underway and then you take it from there and hopefully you can retain your best players and they can see Brentford is a team that if everyone is consistent they can be in the play-offs or even better.

“Once the new stadium is there, we’ll be able to retain the top players we have.

“Harlee Dean has been here a long time and he was my player of the year. I saw the transformation from him last year to this year.

“He’s ironed out his mistakes, taken on the armband personally and he’s matured through the season.

Harlee Dean

“Whether becoming a new dad has helped and I think it does. He’s probably not happy with his last performance.

“Over the course of the season, he’s been the player of the year but there’s more to be done.

“If the team is consistent they can stay in the top 10 from the start of the season and maybe cause an upset.

“We saw a young sides’ inconsistency. I saw the team mature more and making cute fouls or over-elaborating on the contact. They’re starting to influence the referee and that takes time.”