Lee Carsley is excited by the prospect of seeing Lewis Macleod make his first appearance in a Brentford shirt when he faces Nottingham Forest with the development squad.

The former Rangers man has not been seen in red and white stripes since joining the club due to a hamstring injury, further aggravated in bizarre circumstances.

But the Scottish international is fully fit now and will be given the chance to impress manager Mark Warburton against Forest on Saturday.

Carsley said: “I've seen a lot of him from before he signed. He's been raring to go since he's got here so it'll be good to see him playing again.”

Old work-mates: David Weir (R) and coach Lee Carsley

Carsley has worked with Sheffield United and Coventry and revealed that Brentford, who he joined in October and teams from the south are more attacking than ones from the north.

He said: “I'm enjoying it. It's the first club down south that I've worked for and it's different down here to what happens up north.

“The northern clubs I've been at have had more emphasis on defending and the southern clubs are more attacking. It's pushed me as a coach.”

There has been some excitement in recent weeks at recent results in the development squad with the likes of Courtney Senior, Jermaine Udumaga and Josh Laurent catching the eye.

But Carsley is more focused on how they perform, rather than the actual results.

Focused: Lee Carsley

He explained: “I think the whole squad have improved as individuals and as a team.

“We'll be judged on getting players through to the first team and we want to get one or two of them in and around the first team.

“Throughout the whole of our team, there is quite a big gap between our team and the first team so it's important we catch up as quickly as we can.

“I'm trying to produce players that can play in the first team so I'm interested in their progress, rather than the results.”

The Development Squad, who are fifth in their league, face Nottingham Forest at 3pm on Saturday March 28. Admission is £2 while season card holders can enter for free.