Brentford Head Coach Dean Smith felt that this afternoon’s 1-1 draw with 1. FC Kaiserslautern was a good pre-season test for this side. The Bees took on their German counterparts at a stifling Griffin Park and took the lead thanks to an Alexander Ring own goal. That advantage only lasted six minutes as Robert Pich was on hand to tap home at the back post but despite that Dean was still very pleased with the afternoon’s work.

“The pitch is in great condition and it enabled a good game of football,” said Dean. “It was always going to be a tough game because 1. FC Kaiserslautern are a good team and they gave us a stern opponent. That is the kind of game that I want in pre-season because we know it is going to tough when we start the season. There are some things that we need to work on and we know that but there were some glimpses of what we have been working on at the training ground. We were a little bit better on the ball than we were against Wycombe Wanderers and everybody got a runout.”

After Tuesday’s stalemate against Wycombe Wanderers, Dean was able to step up the minutes for a number of his squad with two weeks to go until the start of the season. There were also home debuts for The Bees three summer signings, Romaine Sawyers, John Egan, and Daniel Bentley and Dean was happy with what he saw from individuals this afternoon.

“Lewis Macleod is looking like a promising player after a long time off,” said Dean. “Scott Hogan got another 45 minutes. He is probably disappointed that he didn’t get more because he wants to play more but he has been off the training ground for a long while. The players that are coming back are looking better. John Egan did really well and defended well, Daniel Bentley made some good saves when he needed too, and Romaine Sawyers showed glimpses of what he can do.”

The Bees reverted to a back four this afternoon with Yoann Barbet moving to left-back. Dean has toyed with a back three over the last couple of friendly matches and said he is keen that his team gets used to both systems before the new campaign gets underway.

“I am not thinking about playing Yoann Barbet at left-back this season,” said Dean. “Needs must at time and Tom Field needed a rest. He has had a lot of tough football and a lot of tough training sessions over the past two or three weeks. Our search for our left-back isn’t complete so we needed to put someone there and I know Yoann Barbet can do a job there. The three at the back is a work in progress and it is one that we can flip to. I think that we look more confortable at the moment in our favoured system and our favoured style. It is good that the players can be flexible. Three at the back is probably plan A and a half right now but it is one that we are continually working on and it might come out again in the next two games.”