Reds midfielder Stephen Dawson is licking his lips at the prospect of facing South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday this Saturday.
“It’s been long, hard and a lot of hours in the gym,” Dawson told barnsleyfc.co.uk. “Sedge (Craig Sedgwick – Head Physio) has been absolutely magnificent with me, he’s had to put up with a lot of my tantrums with me not being able to do what I’ve always wanted to do. It’s a big part of my life is football, and it’s been frustrating.”
The Dubliner suffered ankle ligament damage in the early stages of the Reds’ 1-1 draw down at Ipswich back in January, but has been involved in the squad during the last two home fixtures.
“I’ve trained the last three weeks,” he continued. “Hopefully I can push to make a difference this weekend. The lads have done magnificent and the fans have been a credit to themselves, they’ve really been our twelfth man. The job Flicker (Dave Flitcroft), Scotty (Martin Scott) and Micky (Mellon) has been brilliant and I just can’t wait to get back involved.
“I can go back to the Wolves game, so many games where the supporters have just carried us. I appreciate what the fans do. As a group of players we appreciate it because it’s not cheap to come watch every game. I just want to thank them all.
“The boys have really gelled together and we have a great team spirit. We’re heading in the right direction and we’re looking forward to a great weekend of football.”
“I know how much it means to the whole group of players and the fans. Let’s not get too involved in the emotional side of it, we know we’ve got a job to do. We know it’ll be a great atmosphere. Personally I think we owe them, because we should have won back at Oakwell, that match pretty much summed up our whole season – dominating and not getting the right result.”
