Bees and Rangers no closer to Diagouraga deal

Brentford head coach Dean Smith insists the club will not sell midfielder Toumani Diagouraga on the cheap.

Glasgow Rangers, managed by ex-Bees boss Mark Warburton, want to sign Diagouraga but had a bid for him rejected during the week.

Smith, who is not directly involved with transfers at Griffin Park, said the Scottish club would need to meet Brentford’s asking price.

And when asked if the two sides were still “way off” an agreement, Smith said: “Yes, they are.”

“Unless somebody reaches the valuation of the football club there’s nothing to talk about as far as I’m concerned,” he added.

Diagouraga was not named in the Bees squad for the FA Cup defeat by Walsall, while James Tarkowski and Jota were also left out.

But Smith insisted it was about rotating the squad for three matches in the space of six days, with Middlesbrough and Burnley due to visit Griffin Park.

He said: “I knew the team selection I made would bring about speculation, but it’s unwarranted.

“But the good thing about the players is they have a really good mentality. They don’t get their hands turned, there can be speculation, but they just want to play football.”

He was, however, disappointed with the first-half performance which saw his team a goal down to his former club Walsall at the break.

He said: “The players were told that at half-time. In the second half I thought our intensity and tempo was better and given another day we would have scored the goals that would have won us the tie.”