Ryan Woods has pleaded for patience with his team-mates adjusting to life in the Championship – as he was in the same boat a year ago.

Woods may now be one of the most consistent performers in the Bees side, but this time last year he had just been signed from League One Shrewsbury, and it took a couple of months of being eased into the side before he found his feet.

Brentford's three main summer signings – Dan Bentley , Romaine Sawyers and John Egan – were all from League One as well, but while Bentley and Egan have hit the ground running, Sawyers has already come in for stick from some quarters.

Step up: Woods in action for Shrewsbury

Woods said: “I've had first hand experience of how different the Championship is from League One – the tempo is 10 times quicker and the physicality is a lot different.

“It does take a little while to get used to it, but you can see on the pitch that Dan, John and Romaine are all performing for us and will only get better.

“Romaine has come in and is adjusting to the Championship, and he will be a good player for us. We've got a very young team, but there's a lot of quality in there.

Summer signings: Daniel Bentley, Romaine Sawyers, John Egan

“You only have to look at some of the players we're played against already – some of them have played so many games internationally and in the Premier League.

“To come up against players like that, we're testing ourselves every day. But we can be a match for anybody and we're improving with every game we play.”

Woods signed a new four year deal with the Bees amidst all the madness of transfer deadline day, and while he would be among the first names on most fans' team sheet these days, he is taking nothing for granted.

He added: “I would never say my place is guaranteed as you never know the way things go in football, but I'm really pleased with the way things are going for me at the moment.

“I'm happy with the job I'm doing for the team. I'm working as hard as I can on and off the pitch and trying to be the best player I can be, and that's only going to help the team.”