Mark Warburton, the Brentford manager, has been told that he will be dismissed at the end of the season — even if he leads the west London club into football’s top flight for the first time since the Second World War.

The Times has learnt that Matthew Benham, the club’s owner, has made it clear that he is determined to pursue a new direction despite Brentford’s excellent progress under Warburton, who has taken them from Sky Bet League One to fourth place in the Championship. Tonight, they are at home to Watford, among their rivals for automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Warburton discovered via the Spanish media last week that Brentford had held talks with Paco Jémez, the Rayo Vallecano coach, about the manager’s