Tactical tweak behind Brentford dominance – Smith

Brentford boss Dean Smith revealed a tactical tweak was behind their second-half dominance at Villa Park, eventually rewarded with a late equaliser.

The Bees had been on the back foot in the first half an hour, going 1-0 down to Jonathan Kodjia’s firmly struck shot, but began to impose themselves just before the interval.

Smith made a subtle change to the Bees formation at half-time, which he said allowed them to see more of the ball, leading to John Egan’s 88th-minute leveller.

“We changed it a little bit and went 4-4-1-1, put Romaine [Sawyers] in behind and I thought we dominated the second half.

“We thoroughly deserved the goal at the end, and I’m really pleased for the players because against a big club and a good team, we dominated.

“We got the equaliser, then we went looking for the win as well. It just shows the belief and the confidence the players have got.”

The draw at Villa comes just a few days after Brentford went to Brighton and won 2-0, thanks to a Scott Hogan brace.

And Smith believes those two results will show that the Bees are a force to be reckoned with in the Championship.

“I think it’ll probably make other teams stand up and take notice of us,” Smith said.

“To go to Brighton and Aston Villa and come away with four points is a great achievement.”