'Role model' - When Walsall striker Aaron Pressley played with Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo

He made just two cameos from the bench in the Championship and played 26 minutes in a 3-1 defeat against Leicester City in the FA Cup, but that early experience taught him a number of valuable lessons.

"It was probably the best thing that happened to me in terms of understanding fitness, training properly. It was amazing for me to see that side of it," the Scotsman reflects.

"I probably hadn't ever been as fit as I had when I was there. I started to play in a way that I didn't think I had in me because of that. Ever since, I've taken some key lessons from that. 

"There were some great coaches there. Neil McFarlane, even when I was up with the first team, working with Thomas Frank and his backroom staff. Then my dad came in actually, two seasons after, I sent him the job online. 

"The next thing he got the job. In terms of the coaches there, they were huge for me. Trusted me, put belief in me and I started to believe more in myself." 

Pressley might have originally plied his trade in the B team, but was granted the chance to step-up into the first team midway into the 2020-21 season. 

Brentford would achieve a first ever promotion to the Premier League via the play-off at the end of that campaign, with Toney famously leading the line in style. 

Toney plundered 33 goals and set-up 10 more in 52 appearances for the Bees, as Pressley looked to glean many a tip from the free-scoring frontman.

"When I was there, I played some great football and made my debut playing in the Championship," he recalls.

"For a young player, some big moments coming on for Ivan Toney, watching him for nearly a year, two years. 

"Studying his game, what does he do, how does he train, how does he carry himself? He was probably one of the biggest role models for me while I was there. 

"You could always see he was destined to achieve big things. The way he leads the line, he has got an unbelievable arrogance about him, but in a good way. 

"He has got a persona and he's a top player, so that's how he carries himself and it's interesting for me to see that. Someone that I would look to try and replicate on the pitch."

It was at Brentford where he learned the levels required to survive at the top and the Scotsman can even identify similarities with the environment at Walsall.

"Going up against Ethan Pinnock and Mathias Jensen. One of my first sessions, me and Jensen had a bit of a bicker, but that was for me learning how to deal with first team players and how to carry myself in that environment," he reveals.

"How to train properly and how to gain respect from them, especially when I'm training with this calibre of players. 

"Bryan Mbeumo, and these types of players, that were working their way up. It was a good environment to be in and it was a very high level environment.

"There were a lot of humble people in one place. They all wanted to work hard, they all wanted to improve and that was the main thing. 

"I can see that at this club as well."