Smith says Bees can still improve after ‘big’ win

Brentford boss Dean Smith hailed his players after their 2-0 victory over Ipswich but insisted there is still room for improvement.

Summer signing John Egan scored both goals for the Bees, who struggled to get going in the first half but took control after the break.

Smith is keen to make further additions to his squad and believes Danish forward Lasse Vibe’s return from the Olympics will be a big boost.

In the meantime, he feels his team are heading in the right direction.

“We gave the ball away cheaply in the first half but we had some good passages of play just before the break and then the (first) goal gave us a lot of confidence,” he said.

“After that we showed glimpses of what we can do. There’s a still a lot to work on, but we were very good today in terms of competing for second balls – we had to do that side of the game and did that well.”

Smith added: “We’re still after a couple of additions and Lasse Vibe coming back will help us too.”

Brentford’s performance was a marked improvement on their disappointing display in their opening-day defeat at Huddersfield.

And Smith believes getting their first Championship win of the season will build the confidence of his inexperienced players.

“Getting that first win is big. We’ve got players who have never played in the Championship before and probably felt a bit apprehensive,” he explained.

“We didn’t play well last weekend and got beaten, but I’ve said to the players I believe they are a really good Championship team but they have to believe in themselves.”