Defender Harlee Dean has urged fans to remain patient with head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen ‘s new look Brentford.

The 24-year-old is one of the more senior players at the club following the departures of Jonathan Douglas, Stuart Dallas and Tony Craig.

Akaki Gogia, Andreas Bjelland, Konstantin Kerschbaumer and Philipp Hofmann are just a few of the new faces at the Jersey Road training ground.

And Dean, set to start Saturday’s opening day clash with Ipswich Town at Griffin Park, has warned the squad remains a work in progress.

“There have been different nationalities and different languages, so it has been difficult,” he said.

“We’ve done well and dealt with it but there is room for improvement.,” he said.

“There have been changes all over – not just the playing department.

“The next few months are all about learning from mistakes and then rectifying them.

"We’ve lost big players and hopefully the players that have come in will fill their shoes and bring us on to another level.

“We’ve got a different team and a few more foreign boys who are going to have to get used to the Championship.

“We are going to have to give everyone time and everyone is going to have to be patient and the feeling is it will come good in the end.

“The style of play this year will suit us more. It will be more calm and more tactical and more measured and as a central defender I’ll get more protection.

“We should be optimistic because I think we can only get better and better.”

Dean has his own new look having ditched his beard to make a point to his new boss.

“There was a new manager coming in and I wanted to look my age,” he added.

“I got rid of the beard to prove I’m 23 and not 33.

“This is a clean slate for me.”