Warburton hails debutant Long

The Bees manager has kept a close eye on the 20-year-old Everton forward since his Watford Under-13s side were hammered 4-0 on Merseyside with Long scoring all four goals.

On Tuesday night, Long took just four minutes to break the deadlock against the Terriers, latching onto a through ball and firing a rasping low drive past a stunned Alex Smithies.

Second-half strikes from Alex Prichard and Jon Toral ensured maximum points after Harry Bunn had levelled for the visitors early on.

Warburton said: "I tracked him all the way through his development since that day and I know what he is about. The same with Jon Toral.

"Andre Gray has been outstanding for us, but we knew Longy would provide strong competition and today you saw that."

Huddersfield boss Chris Powell admitted his "threadbare" squad gave themselves a mountain to climb after a sluggish start to the second half, which saw Long rifle into the roof of the net after a Ramallo Jota run after 50 minutes.

And he conceded he may have to call on fringe players to do a job for the side to avoid being dragged into the Championship relegation mire.

"We started both halves very slowly and got punished both times. In the first half we could have been three down but for Alex Smithies who made some brilliant saves," he said.

"After we equalised we looked more confident on the ball, pushed forward and started to build. We got a foothold in the game and then conceded early in the second half and we were right up against it again."

Powell said he may consider throwing in some of the youngsters and admitted: "Whatever we try at the moment just isn't working for us."

Bunn's equaliser midway through the first half came when he found a yard on the edge of the box and drilled an angled drive just inside the far post.

But Brentford upped the tempo after the break and after Long restored the lead on loan Spurs midfielder Pritchard stretched it after 70 minutes with a deflected curling effort which looped over Smithies and in.

Toral volleyed home the fourth in injury time when Jacob Butterfield's goal-line clearance dropped for him on the edge of the box after Pritchard, Jota and Gray had all gone close.

Warburton hailed his side's patience after a frustrating first half in which Town's rearguard action and counter attack saw James Vaughan and Bunn carve out half chances.

He said: "It was similar to Saturday at Birmingham when we played against two banks of four, but this time we upped the tempo and intensity and maintained our width and got our rewards.

"It showed that we can have a setback we bounce back and more importantly, that we continue to learn. I was delighted for Chris Long.

"He fits our model of young, hungry players in the mould of Adam Forshaw, Jake Bidwell, Marcello Trotta and George Saville that have been well looked after at the club."