Australian international left-back Brad Smith is on trial with Barnsley with head coach Lee Johnson weighing up whether to sign him.

The 21-year-old is a free agent after leaving Liverpool earlier this year but the Reds would have to pay a compensation fee for him because he was offered a contract by the Premier League giants.

Johnson told the Chronicle: "Brad has been on trial with us this week and will come back next week. He is a good player with a lot of pedigree and he's very quick, mobile and good on the ball. "If he was six foot two, I would be banging the door down to try to sign him. It's not one to go overboard on but it's certainly a player who we have enjoyed having in with us and we will continue to have a look at him.

"I am happy with the squad but you're always looking. Ideally you always want two players for each position. We're nearly there with that."

Smith has four full international caps and has just returned from duty with the Australia under 23s side. He played once for Liverpool against Chelsea in the Premier League in 2013 and spent seven games on loan with tomorrow's opponents Swindon Town at the start of last season.

The current Reds left-back options are Brad's teenage namesake George Smith as well as Lewin Nyatanga who has played most of his career as a centre-back. When questioned about fans' criticisms of Nyatanga being used on the left, Johnson said: "It's a really fair point and it's one I battle with.

"You want Lewin Nyatanga on the pitch for a number of reasons. One of the reasons we played him in the last game was because Shrewsbury had six players over six foot one. We conceded from a set piece anyway so you could say that we should just play players in their natural positions.

"Lewin has played at left-back before but it's not ideal. I don't like to have a centre-half out of position but I picked a team I thought would win the game. I will pick a new team against Swindon and that may change.

"Nyatanga gives us height, communication and good decisions on the ball that maybe a younger player wouldn't.  George Smith gives us crossing ability and a burst of speed and he is a better one-v-one defender than Lewin when someone is running at him.

"Ideally we would have another left-back in the squad who is more than six foot and can compete with George."