Ricky Shakes has warned his Brentford team-mates not to let their heads drop if they want to be at Griffin Park next season.

The 23-year-old winger has been relegated to the bench to accommodate Fulham loanee Wayne Brown for the past three matches.

His introduction at half-time against Bury on Tuesday, with his side trailing 3-0, provided some spark on an otherwise miserable night. And Shakes believes his colleagues need to show more of the same against Macclesfield if they are to feature in boss Andy Scott's rebuilding plans this summer.

"I was disappointing not to start the game but, then again, everyone is when that happens. When you do come on, that is your chance to show what you can do," he said.

"When the first goal went in, everybody's heads dropped.

"That shouldn't happen after one goal when we still have 80 minutes of the game to go.

"It is massively important to get a result against Macclesfield. This is our start.

"There are a lot of players on short-term deals.

"Everybody here has to play their hearts out now."

Shakes netted the winner in a 2-1 win over Bury under former manager Terry Butcher in August and had featured heavily in his side's recent rival.

But the ex-Swindon Town forward thinks the main problem since Brentford's nine-match unbeaten run ended has been the absence of skipper Matt Heywood and midfielder Kevin O'Connor.

"We miss the experience of Matt and Kevin. We are a young side and having them there means you have got louder, experienced voices to demand more from players," he added.

"Players might get the wrong end of the stick if the youngsters shout at them. If it comes from experienced players, we know what we have got to do and that is what we miss.

"You can be on a good run at one stage and a bad run at another, but as lads we have got to keep together and fight for it."