Sergi Canós paid tribute to Ivan Toney for his crucial role in the Brentford team that are still unbeaten in the Premier League, before insisting “even better things are coming”. Sergi, who has weighed in with a string of stand-out performances in a wing-back role that he had hardly played six months ago, believes last season’s 33-goal marksman is far more than a goalscorer. Sergi spoke to the written press after Toney scored in Brentford's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday, which leaves them unbeaten after three Premier League games.

“He gives us a lot of good things and if he can top up what he brings to the team with goals, then that’s amazing,” said the 24-year-old. “Every time he goes for header or flick he wins it, and it gives so much to the team. It gives us oxygen and we can breathe and have the ball a little bit longer.”

The opening goal means Ivan has now joined a select group of players, including former Bee Steve Claridge, to have scored in all four English leagues. But Canós, who scored our first ever Premier League goal in the 2-0 win over Arsenal, admitted the dressing room was slightly disappointed after the Villa Park point.

He added: “It’s been a good start but we thought we could win it. We have a lot more to give and to come, so we are happy but humble because we know better things are coming.”

Canós has earned rave reviews after slotting into the right wing back role but says much of that is down to his team-mates.

“It’s been difficult because I’ve had to come to the Premier League and be in a position I’ve never really played in, but they are helping me so much defensively because that’s where I need a little help and I am very happy,” he said.

He insists there will be no let up for the players who are not on international duty: “We relaxed for the weekend but are working hard again now because we can’t switch off. If you do that for one minute in this league you’re done so we’ll keep working on things because there are areas where we need to improve.”

He also paid tribute to former Bees coach Dean Smith, now in charge at Villa, after the pair met up following the weekend draw: “I’m always happy to see him. He brought me back to Brentford and I will always be thankful for that, because he was one of the first managers who believed in me.”

Despite the impressive start to the Premier League campaign, Sergi says the squad will pay no attention to the media noise.

“We’re not worried about people saying we’re going down or staying up,” he added: “We know what we have inside our team, what we can achieve and do as a team. Our only concern is about the next game, performing well and seeing where it takes us. It’s all about the next game so we’re just going to carry on doing our thing.”