Dean Smith hopes that Lasse Vibe will be fit and available to face QPR after limping off at Barnsley with a cut ankle.

The Danish striker lasted only half an hour before he limped off after taking a knock.

But the Bees boss is hopeful that the frontman can return to fitness to take on their west London rivals.

Smith said: “He's had a cut and some stitches. I could see the claret coming through his socks. You don't risk players with that so he came off.

“I hope he'll be fit for next weekend. You can usually get through that with a couple of players.”

The decision not to bring on Philipp Hofmann was surprising, given that the Bees spent an hour without a recognised striker.

The head coach explained: “Phil is not at the stage where he can play 90 minutes. He's had a back injury and has only played 60 minutes of football.

Alan McCormack tackles Matej Vydra

“It would have been a risk to put him on and I didn't want to pull him off.”

There was another injury blow late on with Alan McCormack suffering a groin injury seconds after coming off the bench.

Smith explained: “We had a problem for the last 18 minutes as Alan McCormack pulled his groin.

”We played him off the front man. It was difficult playing Friday and today. They kept countering us but the lads kept going.

“It was nice to see our captain Harlee race back from a corner and epitomised what our nature is.”