CHERRIES ace Chris Mepham says facing European opposition during his early years at Brentford helped him prepare "physically as well as tactically" for the rigours of first-team football.

Mepham, 22, joined Cherries from the Bees for a fee believed to be £12million in January, bringing to an end a seven-year stay at the west London club for the centre-back.

Wales international Mepham impressed little over five miles down the road from Brentford during Saturday's memorable 1-0 win for Cherries against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with boss Howe describing the defender's performance as "the best game he has had for the club".

Mepham featured 48 times for Brentford's first team before departing for Cherries, but he also recalls fondly his time featuring for Brentford B, a team formed in 2016, who played matches against some of the top sides in Europe.

“I loved touring across Europe with the team and playing against different styles of play,” Mepham told the Brentford website.

“One of the hardest games I’ve ever played was against Villarreal away, it was a game where we got battered for large periods, but you can come away learning a lot from those types of experiences.

“The biggest memory for me was beating Manchester United 3-2 at Griffin Park and scoring two of them, especially on my birthday.

"Beating Man United at any level is incredible and to do it with the B team was definitely special."

He added: “Some of the B team games were very similar to what I could come up against in a first-team game. Matches against teams like Dundalk and other first teams, such as Stevenage, help prepare you physically as well as tactically.

“The staff were great as well, people such as Chris Haslam, James Purdue and Tom Perryman were pushing me in the gym every day to improve physically as this was an area where I could improve so much to help the step up become easier.”

Asked what advice he would give to players in a similar position to where he emerged from at the Bees, Mepham said: “To always work hard and maximise every single member of staff you have available to you. I was always one for staying out and doing extras with Lars (Friis) at the time and I was always pulling him to set up different individual drills for me."

Discussing Mepham's performance against Chelsea, Howe said: “I thought he really grew in stature. The aerial duels he won, the physicality and aggression he needed to show in his game was there.

“I thought him and Simon did really well, signs hopefully that could be a good partnership for us."