Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has discussed the impact Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins had on the Bees' journey to the Premier League, ahead of their reunion at Villa Park on Wednesday.

Watkins played nearly 150 games for the west Londoners before signing for Villa in September 2020 but, having scored 34 times in the Premier League over the last two seasons, the forward has just one goal in his last eight games in all competitions.

But Frank insisted that the England international will start scoring again soon.

"Ollie is a top player. He has developed well at Aston Villa over the last few years, where he is constantly adding layers," said the Bees boss.

"He will score goals again - just hopefully not tomorrow! He can even be the top goalscorer in the league, as long as he doesn't score against us."

Frank added: "He was very important for us. He was here for three years: two years as a winger and then we moved him to a striker, where he really flourished.

"I really liked him as a striker and he played a big part in that very good season. We played some fantastic football but we just narrowly missed out on promotion.

"But he helped get us up to that position, along with the other players, and then we took the final step. He's been a big part of the journey we've been on."