It had not been the ideal start to the season for Brentford after what looked like a thoroughly impressive summer of transfer business.

With the likes of Pontus Jansson, David Raya and Ethan Pinnock arriving, as well as keeping hold of Said Benrahma, it looked like this could be the season that the Bees really challenged for promotion.

But with last-season's top-scorer Neal Maupay departing for Brighton, with David Bentley and Ezri Konsa also leaving, Thomas Frank's side have struggled at both ends of the pitch.

On Sunday afternoon, however, that changed, with an impressive 3-1 win away to Barnsley giving them a badly needed boost as they look to climb the table.

There were plenty of impressive performances from the visitors, including Benrahma, but it is hard to argue that the stand-out showing came from the man tasked with replacing Maupay's goals.

It is not as though Ollie Watkins has no prior experience finding the back of the net. Since arriving at Griffin Park the 23-year-old had scored 23 goals in 102 appearances.

On Sunday, he took that tally to 26 with a brilliant hat-trick at Oakwell, all scored with his head.

It was a reassuring performance more than anything, with Watkins putting to bed any doubts that he is not cut out to lead the line.

He played the duration of the match with all three of his goals coming within a 30 minute spell either side of half-time.

But goals aside, there was plenty more for the Bees fans to be excited about.

Scoring from three of his five shots, garnering an accuracy of 60%, it is clear that Watkins is not afraid to shoot, which was one of Maupay's greatest strength, whilst eight touches in the box show that his positional sense continues to improve.

He was not out for himself, however.

Two shot assists show that his ever-increasing awareness of his teammates will lead to plenty of assists coming his way throughout the season as well.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance, aside from the goals, was his runs off the ball. He nearly always timed them to perfection, being caught offside just once in the whole game.

In a second half where the Bees could have easily scored three or four more goals than they did, this is a stat that is not to be scoffed at.

It was a match where Watkins stepped up and gave hope that the West Londoner's promotion hopes are far from over.