Dean Smith has told Emmanuel Ledesma to prove his fitness if he wants to earn a contract at Brentford.

The Argentine has been on trial at Griffin Park over the past few weeks and featured in friendlies against Kaiserslautern, Peterborough and Millwall.

While Smith knows what the former QPR and Middlesbrough man can do technically, he is not yet satisfied with Ledesma's fitness.

He said: “Emmanuel is still training with us. I spoke with him the other day and said that, although I really like him as he knows, he's not fit enough yet.

“If he's prepared to stay around us and prove his fitness we'll see where we are in a couple of weeks.

Dean Smith

“At the moment, I'm not prepared to offer him a contract with where his fitness is.”

There is a prospect Ledesma could be registered as a non-contract player but Smith is keen to see what he has over the next two or three weeks.

“We'll have to see in the next two or three weeks that he's pushing. We could register him for a game as a non-contract player. I think he's happy to do that but that's a decision I'll have to make.”

When asked if this would be considered for Tuesday's EFL Cup tie at Exeter, Smith responded by saying: “I would not consider it for Saturday.”