Brentford close in on left-back and eye Ledesma

Brentford expect to complete the signing of a left-back next week and will give trialist Emmanuel Ledesma another chance to impress in Tuesday night’s friendly against Peterborough.

Former QPR and Middlesbrough midfielder Ledesma, 28, played the last half-hour of Saturday’s warm-up with Kaiserslautern, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Ledesma played under Bees boss Dean Smith at Walsall but is currently without a club after leaving Rotherham.

Smith said: “He’s a talented lad and he’s been training on his own without a club, so we got him in.

“He’s only done two days’ training with us but he showed a little bit of his class late on with some of his passing.

“He sees things very quickly, he’s got a great footballing brain. He’s not the most physical but technically he’s very gifted.

“He’ll probably play a part again on Tuesday and then I’ll make a decision by the end of the week.”

Smith is confident of landing a left-back to replace the sold Jake Bidwell before next weekend’s visit to Millwall for Tony Craig’s testimonial.

He added: “We’ve got a few names that we’re working on and we’re hoping that one of them will come to fruition.”

The Bees boss was encouraged with his side’s efforts against German second-tier side Kaiserslautern, particularly given the stifling heat.

“There were some good performances. Speaking to their coach afterwards, we both felt it was a tough game for each team,” he said. 

“What I wanted in pre-season is tough games because this season’s going to be tough.

“If we get past the League Cup first round, we’re suddenly playing seven games in the first month, so it’s important everyone gets minutes.”