Brentford: Chelsea youngster John Swift has more to learn at Brentford, says head coach

The 20-year-old, who moved to Griffin Park in October on an initial one month loan deal that soon became a three month agreement, has extended his stay at the club until the end of the season.

Swift has scored three goals and created three others in 15 Championship appearances for Brentford and earned his first England U21 cap in November.

And Smith reckons there is plenty more to come from the Blues loanee.

“John has developed a lot as a player in his time with Brentford," he said after sealing the deal on Monday.

"He is someone I knew about when he was playing in League One last year and he has improved since then.

"He also has lots of scope to develop further. It is great to have him as part of the squad for the rest of the season.”

Composed: John Swift in action against Brentford and Chelsea's west London rivals Queens Park Rangers

Swift was on the books at Portsmouth before joining Chelsea, where he was part of Blues' FA Youth Cup winning team in 2012.

He helped the West London side win the FA Premier U21 League in the 2013-14 campaign, before making his senior top flight debut in May 2014.

Swift's first U21 game came in November when he helped England beat Switzerland in a UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier.

Meanwhie, Flemming Pedersen has taken over as head coach of Brentford’s development squad, with Kevin O’Connor as his assistant.

Flemming, who arrived at Griffin Park in the summer as head of football philosophy and player development, has 30 years coaching epxerience and holds a UEFA Pro Licence - the highest coaching qualification in the game.

Legend: Brentford's Kevin O'Connor made 501 appearances for the Bees before joining the club's coaching staff

And Bees' co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen believes it is a good move for O'Connor and the club.

"There is an important job to be done in helping our next generation of players making the step to the first team from the development squad and Flemming will bring more than 30 years of coaching experience to that role," he said.

"Kevin O’Connor has done a great job and demonstrated excellent potential as a coach, particularly when leading the development squad over the past few months.

"It is important that the club supports the development of coaches as much as the development of players.

"We believe Kevin can learn from Flemming and improve as a coach working with him.

"Kevin will have an important role to play in developing future Brentford players and he will also represent the club on visits to other clubs and organisations in order to improve his knowledge on the latest innovations in football, knowledge he will be able to share with our other coaches."