Barnsley-born centre-back delighted to be named Paul Heckingbottom's new Reds captain!
Reds defender Marc Roberts says it is an honour for him to have been named the new captain of Barnsley Football Club.
Robbo' led the team out against Rotherham on Saturday and is relishing the chance to lead the Reds out again at Oakwell tomorrow evening against Wolves.
He is thrilled Head Coach Paul Heckingbottom has shown such faith in him to name him captain of the Club and will hope to repay him and the fans further between now and the end of the season.
He said: “It’s an honour for me to be Barnsley captain and a proud moment in my career from where I’ve come from. I’m absolutely honoured to take it from a great player like Conor (Hourihane).
“I didn’t even expect it now but you have to takes things in your stride and I was happy to take it. The gaffer pulled me and asked about it and it’s a proud moment for me.
“I think the fans love it, I’ve had a couple of tweets about it and it just shows what the club is about and hopefully we can portray that on the pitch and hopefully I can help the team in any way possible.”
Reflecting on Saturday’s victory over Rotherham, the centre-back felt it may not have been the Reds’ best performance, but none the less they came away with the victory and a clean sheet.
To follow up last weekend’s 3-2 win over Leeds with a scrappy 1-0 win away to the Millers is testament to the side and he hopes they can use those two victories as a springboard heading into two home matches.
“It was three points at the end of the day and that’s all we care about. It was not the most glitzy performance but that’s what you get from derbies.
“We knew they were going to make it hard for us but like I say we’ve come away with three points and that’s the main thing.
“We knew Leeds were up there and are one of the form sides so that was always going to be difficult but we’ve come away with a win and I thought we deserved it.
“The Rotherham game was a bit scrappy with not much quality in it, but Kenty (Ryan Kent) and Arma’ (Adam Armstrong) linked up well for the goal and I think that showed what we’re about, but getting three points was the main thing.
“The two derby wins have put us right in the mix,” he continued. “We’re one point outside the play-offs and we have two good home games to come, but we have a really tough month in February so we’ll see where we are then.
“It’s an old cliché but we have to take it game by game and work on the next game, Wolves tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll get three points at home.
“You get a couple of wins back-to-back and you go into games thinking we can win this and in the back of your head you know you have the capability to win it.
“If we turn up anything like we did in the two home games we might get another six points.” he added.
There has been some speculation surrounding Roberts throughout the January transfer window, but he was quick to assert that he sees his future with the Reds.
Roberts said: “I don’t take any notice to be honest, it’s all rumours and you have to understand the team is doing well.
“I don’t think there is anyone who has not had some form of speculation so when you’re doing well, there’s always going to be that sort of paper talk.
“As a squad, we’re focused on Barnsley and we’re all Barnsley players. The rumours do filter down to us but only as banter.
“I’m a Barnsley player and that’s where I see my future.
“I have a big affiliation with Barnsley, I’m a Barnsley lad, I obviously want to play at the best level possible and hopefully, touch wood, that can be with Barnsley and I don’t see why it can’t.
“We’ve got the capability to do it but as I’ve said before, I’m a Barnsley player and that’s my full focus for the future and I can’t see that changing anytime soon.”
Tomorrow’s visitors Wolves will come into the game buoyed by their FA Cup victory over Liverpool on Saturday.
But Robbo’ hopes the Reds can produce a repeat performance from the 4-0 victory in September and boost their bid for the play-offs.
He said: “We obviously played them earlier on in the season and they may not be doing great, but that’s sometimes the worst time to play a team like that.
“You saw Rotherham weren’t doing the best but they put up a fight and we expect that from Wolves. I’m sure we’ll go through that today and know how we’re going to beat them.
“The Liverpool win was a great one for them but hopefully we can bring them back down to earth.”
On Barnsley’s play-off chances, he added: “We have the players and the squad to do it, we have the management side to do it, we’re all pulling in the same direction and we have the quality to do it.
“We just have to put it out there on the pitch.”
Tickets are still available for tomorrow night's clash with Wolves and this weekend's clash with Preston North End. To get yours, CLICK HERE!
