Pre-season friendlies are often considered an opportunity for players to get minutes in their legs ahead of a new campaign, but new Brentford signing Nathan Collins doesn’t subscribe to this belief.

Following another demanding training session in the Washington sunshine, the Republic of Ireland international insisted that he and his new team-mates will play with their usual intensity against Fulham on Sunday.

“There’s no such thing as a friendly,” said Collins. “Particularly with this game being a derby, there’s always going to be an edge to it.

“It’ll be good for both teams to get a really intense game into the players.

“I don’t want to treat any fixture as a friendly; you need to play every game to your maximum capability.

“I’m going to get stuck in and play football in the way that I like to play.

“The fans are mad over here, they’re crazy – we’ve all seen that on TV – so I’m really looking forward to playing in front of them.”

Brentford’s first-team group arrived in Washington on Monday and will spend the remainder of July in the US.

The Bees play their first Premier League Summer Series game against Fulham in Philadelphia on Sunday and have fixtures against Brighton and Hove Albion (26 July) and Aston Villa (30 July) next week.

Collins - who arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month – revealed that an extended period away has helped him settle into the group.

“It’s a nice situation for me as I’ve been able to get to know the lads straight away,” he continued.

“I’m getting comfortable with them all and I’ve settled in nicely. Ben Mee, who I played with at Burnley, is one of the best people in football – he’s a legend. He’s helped me a lot and was texting me before I arrived with advice on where to live. When I came in, he brought me along. He’s been class.”

Collins added: “It’s been really good and really interesting so far. It’s a new city and a new country for me, so it’s a bit alien. I’m really enjoying it.”

Four clubs. Two matches. One great day out. Lincoln Financial Field hosts Fulham v Brentford and Newcastle United v Aston Villa on Sunday 23 July. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.