Brentford manager Mark Warburton says defender Harlee Dean faces a battle to win back his place from James Tarkowski.
Dean has returned to full fitness following an injury but did not feature in Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Tranmere – a game in which Tarkowski produced a superb display at centre-back and scored his first goal for the club.
Warburton heaped praise on the youngster, whom he signed from Oldham in the January transfer window, and admitted he now faces a dilemma over his selection for Saturday’s crucial promotion clash at Leyton Orient.
“It’s a problem, you can’t deny that, but a nice problem to have,” Warburton said.
“James has done really well. He attacks in both boxes and produced another good performance.
“It was a good header, a good goal and much needed, and he and Tony Craig looked very solid together.
“Harlee trained and is fully fit – which is good news for us. He will be chomping at the bit to get his place back and we need the competition.
“We’ve got a lot of games coming up. After Orient there are three games in eight days and we are going to need all of our squad.”
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