From Macclesfield to London to Athens, the Brentford pathway has been on show.

Under-18s midfielder Luka Bentt’s first-team debut in the Bees' recent FA Cup fourth-round win over Macclesfield perfectly encapsulates this.

Fellow B-team players Josh Stephenson and Ollie Shield also featured in Keith Andrews’ matchday squad against Macclesfield - with the latter also featuring in recent Premier League matchday squads against Burnley and Bournemouth.

Under-16s players Amaru Goppy, Harry Biggs, Ibrahim Serme and Jai Nwosu then featured for Gary McDermott’s U18s in their recent tour of Greece, with the latter scoring back-to-back winners to secure wins over Panathinaikos FC Youth and AEK Athens Youth.

Back in London, U18s players Domeiro Bobb-Semple, Naeem Giscombe, Otis Honor, Beau Redknapp and Michel Boni featured in Sam Saunders’ squad for their Under-21s Professional Development League win over Charlton Athletic, with Boni scoring a late winner on the night.

Speaking after his side’s 2-1 win over Panathinaikos in Greece, McDermott said it was exciting to see players play across age groups.

“The success is that those guys end up going up to the B team, and then we can work with the U16s," he said. "I thought they came in and did really well.

“It’s a credit to Andy [Ottley] and Josh [Brimacombe-Wiard] for the work they have done with them prior to coming into the team and slotting in the way that they did.

“The pleasing thing for us is, if we look at the pathway, we were watching Luka Bentt make his debut for the first team last night, who could’ve been on this tour as an U18s player.

“The pathway for the boys is really clear. Ollie Shield was also on the bench, as well as Josh Stephenson. It just shows the pathway is there if you’re good enough, it doesn’t matter your age.”

Watching their team-mate make his first-team debut while sitting in a hotel restaurant in Athens, the U18s were spurred on to perform strongly the following day against Panathinaikos.

After opening the scoring through an own goal, the Bees were pegged back by the hosts in the 90th minute. The euphoria was short-lived, however, as Nwosu wasted no time and scored down the other end 15 seconds later to secure an entertaining 2-1 victory.

Two days later, McDermott's side were back at it, this time in sunny Greek conditions against AEK Athens.

Jovan Kasujja and a trialist opened the scoring for the west Londoners to give Brentford a 2-0 lead within five minutes, but the hosts managed to equalise late on in the second half. As he had done two days earlier, Nwosu again found himself in the right place at the right time, with the U16s striker making up for an earlier miss with a timely goal to hand the Bees a 3-2 win.

Speaking after the game, Brentford U18s assistant coach Kieran Driscoll reflected on the impact that playing abroad has on the players' development on and off the pitch.

"We want to try and give all of our boys the very best holistic experience that we can," he said. "A big part of that is to take them to different countries, different cultures, experience different time zones, and be able to experience performing against different types of opponents in different environments.

"We're trying to develop players that one day will go and play in the Premier League and there's a strong chance that, when a player makes their debut, they're going to come up against international opponents, so these experiences are pivotal not just for them in their development as footballers, but ultimately to develop their holistic experience."