Kevin O'Connor’s appointment as assistant manager can help turn things around at Brentford - according to boss Thomas Frank.

The Bees legend, who made over 500 appearances for the club between 1999 and 2015, stepped up to join Frank’s coaching staff this week after a rigorous recruitment process.

The 36-year-old Brentford Hall of Fame inductee will assist the Dane with improving his side’s attacking approach while adding vital support to Frank in his first managerial job in England.

Frank, who took the job in October following Dean Smith’s move to Aston Villa, believes O’Connor can provide crucial knowledge of the English game that he admits he’s lacking.

“I think it’s a perfect fit getting him [Kevin O’Connor] involved in the first team coaching staff. I am really pleased that he can step up to us and after a long process of interviews,” he told Brentford's website.

“Kevin brings dedication, passion, knowledge and high standards. His knowledge of the club is big. He’s a legend. He brings all that bit extra that you can’t define that we need.

“It’s important to say that I think we need that in the mix of the coaching staff, no matter if we had won ten games or lost ten games.

“What he brings is even more important now because when you’re on a high you can forget the basics… but now it’s the basics that he brings massively.

“He knows what it is to be out there and suffer. He’s been through everything with this club, ups and downs, so he knows that in some ways we are at the highest point in the Championship, but also what we’ve been through over many years.”

Brentford travel to fellow strugglers Hull City on Saturday as the Bees attempt to arrest a five game winless run stretching back to the derby defeat against QPR.

Ahead of the clash, the Bees manager was quick to dismiss rumours that his players hadn’t been warming up properly or arriving on time for training.

“When you are not on the best run you look at things and you see things that you judge. You judge things and say ‘that can’t be right, the warm up’ there’s different rumours,” said Frank.

“I can say for sure that they put a lot of effort into every single session, every single match, every single warm up. There’s no player that doesn’t have 100 per cent commitment.

“If they don’t they wouldn’t be playing in the squad. That’s very simple.

“There’s been two players that have been late in the two and a half years that I have been here. One was Sergi Canós two weeks ago because of personal matters.

“I am glad that people are following us in interest and caring about us.

“The other was because someone slipped over. It happened to me just once in 20 years.”

With Brentford sat just four points above the drop zone, Frank will have to cope without Emiliano Marcondes and Lewis Macleod for the next month.

Saturday’s opponents have been in dangerous form of late despite their lowly league position, winning three of their last six league outings including beating QPR 3-2 earlier this month.

Frank is all too wary that his players must take some responsibility and deliver against the Tigers.

“We have made too many mistakes as a team and as individuals,” he said.

“We are confident that we are going in the right direction.”