Brentford: Clayton Donaldson eyes automatic promotion

Brentford striker Clayton Donaldson has set his sights on a top-two finish in League One.

The Bees are currently two points clear at the top of the table and are on an 18-match unbeaten run which stretches back to October.

"Everyone's aim is to try and get up automatically. That is our preferred option," he told BBC London 94.9.

"Being top of the league at this stage of the season shows we are not too far away. It is down to us really."

After a slow start to the campaign, which saw them lose four of their opening 11 league games, the west London side have not tasted a league defeat since 12 October, when they were beaten 2-1 at Stevenage.

Having won 15 matches since then, they went top of the table at the end of 2013 and are now three points clear of third-placed Leyton Orient with a game in hand.

Brentford missed out on automatic promotion on the last day of last season and were subsequently beaten in the play-off final by Yeovil - the seventh time they have failed to win promotion through the play-offs.

They have had their last two games postponed but Donaldson, who has scored 14 goals in 31 appearances this season, is confident their squad will be able to cope with the run-in.

"It was well documented last year with the heartbreak of the final game of the season and the play-offs," the 30-year-old said.

"These games being cancelled, there will be a backlog of games where we will be playing Saturday-Tuesday for a few weeks.

"That could cause us a few problems but most of the teams are in the same boat.

"We have a good squad and that will help us with later games. Having a good physio department, with hardly any players injured for a while now, will help us as well.

"Other teams have struggled when they lost a few players. We are in a good position so it is mainly down to us now."