Brentford have continued to defy all expectations in the Championship, with Dean Smith’s men’s eye catching brand of football lifting them to within touching distance of the play-offs.

It will take a monumental effort in the closing stages of the season for the Bees to secure a top six finish, but with their match against automatic promotion contenders Cardiff City postponed this weekend due to the weather, Smith’s men will have time to recuperate, and will return to action invigorated and craving play-off football.

Summer signings have settled well over the course of the campaign, with the stand out capture of the window undoubtedly Football League wonderkid Ollie Watkins, who has excelled since making the jump from League Two.

Here is what we have learnt about the Grecians’ academy graduate so far…

Watkins is miles ahead at the top of the shots chart for the division, with the 22-year-old not afraid to let fly from anywhere on the field.

His return of only nine league goals will disappoint the youngster given the number of attempts to his name, something Watkins will certainly look to work upon over the summer.

Still, nine is a sensational return for a player adjusting to the demands of second tier football, and if he can continue to improve his goals to shots ratio, then the player has the capacity to evolve into one of the best players in the Football League, and potentially the Premier League.

Watkins will appeal to manager Dean Smith for his versatility, with the player performing to a high level when deployed in any attacking area of the field.

Whether out wide or down the middle, Watkins battles hard and gets himself into excellent positions, something that has helped him secure his status as the top shot taker in the division.

Whether cutting in from the left, or hitting the byline and standing balls into the box from the right, Smith can be assured that Watkins will run himself into the ground going forward.

He shares many traits similar to that of young England and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, and watchers of the Premier League will understand the need for the teenager to play down the middle to be at his most effective; Watkins is the same.

The Bees are a ball playing side, and one thing I like about Watkins is that he will drop into space when play is developing, allowing others to move into more advanced roles while he drags opposition defenders away from the action.

The fact that he is good on the ball and has an eye for a pass certainly helps this aspect of his game, with Watkins harbouring the ability to spread the play, or pick out the runs of the likes of Neal Maupay and Emiliano Marcondes, as well as Lasse Vibe who departed for China in January.

Watkins then finds himself able to time his run into the box to connect with the ball he had played out wide, as proven by the several headers he has scored this season, the most recent being in the 5-0 demolition of Birmingham City, in which Watkins looked like a Premier League star.

Bees fans, thoughts on Watkins?