Dean Smith accepts the frustration amongst Brentford fans about his side's difficulty in holding onto leads.

The Bees have dropped 18 points from winning positions so far this season. Had they kept all of them, they would be second and two points clear of Cardiff. Had they held half of that, they'd be sixth.

Smith is aware that it is an issue and knows that turning draws into wins is something that must be improved upon.

He said: “You go out to try and win a game. When you take the lead, you're trying to win the game and the opposition are doing something about it.

“We haven't won as many games as we should have done. It's not escaped my eyes that we're won five out of 19 but we've lost one in 13.

Shellshocked Bees

“We have to turn the draws into wins. That's why we were so frustrated on Monday.”

Smith has been trying to rectify it since the Bristol City game in August and believes different circumstances have prevented it from being resolved.

He added: “We were reviewing it after the Bristol City game to be honest. We were outstanding and they scored in the 97th minute.

“We were looking at ways to make sure it didn't happen again. Different circumstances have happened.

“We've also come back in games. We know what we're good at and we have to maintain what we're good at when we're leading.”

Game management has been a phrase on Brentford fans' lips in the past week and Smith knows that is a collective responsibility from top to bottom.

Dean Smith

He explained: “It is the responsibility of the whole squad and the whole coaching staff. The QPR game on Monday night, Dan has the ball in his hand.

“He plays it to Andreas who plays it to Ollie who is fouled. If the referee gives the foul as he should as it takes 45 seconds to take the free kick.

“A couple of mistakes happen after that. Dan makes a mistake and they score and from there they go on and get the equaliser.

“You reflect on it and you have to go it was 95 seconds. I was sat here 20 months ago losing 3-0 at QPR and since then we've never looked like losing.

“The disappointing thing is we were so comfortable at 2-0 and didn't take the points.”

Some have suggested that bringing on an extra defender to add some assurance at the back would have resolved the issue against QPR.

Smith countered: “If you look at Monday night, what were they doing? They were lumping the ball up to Monday night.

“I've not had Chris Mepham in the greenhouse and he's not grown to six foot five yet. If you've got the ball, they won't be able to give the ball to him and we gave the ball away a bit cheaper than we normally do.”

He added: “We do (practice balls being lumped in the box) all the time. We've got a way that we play.

“If they've got players like Matt Smith and we pass the ball like we can they won't get nearer. We could have closed them down better and stopped them at source.”