THE OPPOSITION
Dean Smith brings Aston Villa to West London tonight looking to re-ignite a Play-Off push which has faltered in recent weeks.
Villa head into tonight's game having won just two of their last 12 in all competitions, drawing seven and losing the other three, after winning five of their first eight under former Bees boss Smith.
A quick look at the league table shows where Villa's strengths and weaknesses are this campaign; The Villains have scored the third most goals in the second tier, 56, but also sit in the bottom three for goals conceded, 49. Tammy Abraham (pictured above) leads the scoring charts for Villa with 20 league goals this term.
Friday's outing against Sheffield United was a perfect snapshot for their season, as the Claret and Blues needed three goals in the final eight minutes to take a point on home soil. The game against The Blades was the fourth time in ten outings where Smith had seen his side concede three times.
TEAM NEWS
Villa will be without a number of key players for tonight's game with Jack Grealish, Axel Tuanzebe, Henri Lansbury, and Tom Carroll all ruled out. Defender James Chester could return after missing a couple of weeks with a knee injury.
For Brentford, Thomas Frank is definitely without Emiliano Marcondes and Lewis Macleod while Rico Henry is a doubt with an ankle injury.
THE MANAGER
Dean Smith needs no introduction to Brentford fans having spent almost three years at the club before his move to Villa Park in October.
Following a playing career which spanned 15 years, and nearly 700 professional appearances, Dean began as assistant to Martin Ling at Leyton Orient before taking over Walsall's Academy in 2009. In January 2011, Smith was appointed caretaker manager at The Bescot, a position which was made permanent later that month. An instant success, Smith made up a nine-point gap to lead The Saddlers to League One safety in May.
Over the next three full seasons Walsall finished 19th, 9th, and 13th, before a run to the final of the EFL Trophy saw The Saddlers make their first appearance at Wembley Stadium in March 2015.
Eight months later, Smith left The Bescot to take over at Griffin Park, leading us to a ninth placed finish during his first season and subsequent tenth and ninth-placed finishes in the Sky Bet Championship.
PRE-MATCH FEATURES
Thomas Frank expecting "fantastic match to watch" at Griffin Park
Gregg Evans of the Birmingham Mail previews The Villains
Gavin Ward will take charge at Griffin Park tonight
LAST TIME OUT
Goals from Romaine Sawyers and Lasse Vibe wrapped up the points in front of the Sky Cameras last time out at Griffin Park
TICKET INFO
Tickets for tonight's game will be on sale to Previous Purchasers until kick-off tonight
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MATCH COVERAGE
Mark Burridge is your host from Griffin Park tonight. He'll be joined by Marcus Gayle and Stuart Wakeford, bringing you live match commentary from 7.15pm.
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Tonight's game is also live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm.