The 18-year-old centre-back, who came through the Bees’ Academy and signed his first pro deal at the end of last season, talked to the Year 6 youngsters about how to achieve a career in football.

The Hive Foundation have organised Edgware Primary’s after-school football clubs for several years and Smith, who was accompanied by coach Jake Littlejohn, was only too happy to chat to some of their aspiring young players.

He said: “I enjoyed the event and I was proud to be someone they looked up to. I think all kids need an eye-opener like that to really push them down a specific career path.

“Speaking to the kids and telling them that hard work will get them where they want to be, they really understood and took that on board. We should have some great kids in the future.

“One of them identified that I’d been in the squad against Grimsby Town and he actually shouted my name, which was surprising and quite funny. It made me want to work even harder now due to that recognition!”