Brentford goalkeeper Simon Moore may be earning the plaudits between the sticks this term, but he admitted he would not be there without a little help from his friends.

The 22-year-old kept his 10th shutout of the season in the 0-0 draw with Walsall on Saturday and was 25 minutes away from making it 11 in Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Crawley Town.

His emergence has come at the expense of friend and mentor Richard Lee, who has been forced to bide his time on the sidelines.

Lee, who signed a contract extension in December keeping him at the club until 2014, ended last season as the club’s undisputed number one, after a difficult first campaign at Griffin Park the previous year.

But the 30-year-old has not allowed his spell on the bench this term to affect his form, with four clean sheets in six appearances.

And Moore admitted Lee’s exploits only helped him scale the heights himself.

Moore said: “Richard has had an amazing record and kept a clean sheet virtually every time he played.

“He has had two in the league and two in the cups and I think he has conceded only one goal from open play, so that is something to work and aspire to everytime I go out there. It pushes you on.

“We have a great relationship and I wouldn’t be playing as well as I am now if it wasn’t for Rich.”

Sam Saunders, enjoying a rare start for the Bees, gave his side the lead early on after Crawley’s Mark Connolly had been sent-off in the opening minutes of the clash in Sussex.

Clayton Donaldson, who dedicated his goal to the memory of his mum, who died on the weekend of the Chelsea FA Cup replay, doubled the advantage soon after.

Midfielder Adam Forshaw saw red for a second bookable offence in the 59th minute and former Bee Nicky Adams pulled one back six minutes later, but Brentford held on.

The win, only their third in the league this year, moved boss Uwe Rosler’s men up to fifth in the table – four points adrift of League One leaders Doncaster Rovers.

Rosler said: “I’m very disappointed with the performance. We stopped working, stopped doing what had worked well for us in the first half.

“We stopped doing what had got us a two-goal lead, and it could have been three or four.

“I’m disappointed with how we used the extra man and the mistakes we made. We have to look beyond the result. The best thing to do is be happy we got three points and move on.”

The Bees host Scunthorpe United tomorrow.