Brentford peg back sleepy Stoke as Gary Rowett admits Potters are soft touch

Brentford boss Dean Smith urged his impressive side to kick on from their 1-1 draw at Stoke – as opposite number Gary Rowett told his Potters stars to “wake up”.

The Bees gifted their hosts a cheap opener when a defensive mix-up allowed Benik Afobe to tap in. But Brentford bounced back and Ollie Watkins’ terrific long-range strike restored parity after 66 minutes.

The visitors looked the likelier to come away with all three points but Stoke held on for a first point of the season.

Smith said: “Stoke have a talented squad so for us to come here and dominate is very pleasing for me. The players can take a lot of belief from this result.”

Smith refused to criticise his players for the hosts’ opener and was happy with how his relatively young squad reacted to the gaffe.

Captain Chris Mepham attempted a routine header back to Dan Bentley but the goalkeeper chose to dash out of his area and the ball bypassed him, handing Afobe his gift.

Smith said: “It was a mistake and it can happen. I thought we were then the better team in the second half.

“The character and spirit from the players was there in the second half and we eventually put that right with a great goal.”

That strike saw Watkins drill home from 25 yards to finish off a fine passing move.

Smith added: “I have to say that the lads were a credit to themselves.”

Watkins was even denied a winner late on thanks to Jack Butland’s terrific save.

Stoke manager Rowett said his players need to start performing better as they adjust to life after relegation from the Premier League.

“My message to the players is that ‘we’ve got to wake up’,” said Rowett. “At the moment we look too easy to create chances against.

“Every time we lost the ball high up the pitch it looked like Brentford could counter-attack us. You could see at the start that any sideways or back-pass made people get nervous or edgy.

“We put ourselves under pressure at times and there were a bit of nerves.

“Whilst I can understand that, we’ve got to better than that because we have players who have played at a higher level.

“After the goal the team had a lift. We started to move the ball around a bit better but for me, the basic decision-making and defending we just did not do.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves as a group.”