Barnsley goalkeeper Adam Davies is keen to see the team bounce back from the disappointment of last season.
The 25-year-old believes that the influence Head Coach Daniel Stendel has had on the squad in pre-season training has been positive, and is looking forward to getting underway against Oxford United on Saturday 4 August.
“The last two weeks have been brilliant,” admitted Davies. “The intensity in training has gone up 1,000% and everyone is buzzing around. So I think the manager is going to have a massive play in getting everyone on side and getting us excited for what’s ahead.
“We’ve got a really young group and we’ll only learn from the mistakes of last year and keep moving forward. It was a difficult period for everyone and no one wants to feel like that; it’s horrible getting beat every other week. But we want to change that and get back to the winning mentality that we’ve had in the past.
“We’ve got a strong squad; everyone has played in the league above and a lot of the lads have played in League One before so we know what it’s about. There are a lot of different ways you can win games and the experience we’ve got in those leagues will be a big help.”
Emphasis in training has been on Davies and his fellow goalkeepers developing their game in order to adapt to the sweeper-keeper role to assist the team with their high-pressing.
The Reds stopper feels comfortable and has familiarized himself with the demands of his new role, and is looking forward to this being implemented in the new campaign.
“The manager wants us to be sweeper-keepers; it’s something that he’s massive on,” continued Davies. “Me, Jack [Walton] and young Jake [Greatorex] have had a discussion with John Vaughan [goalkeeping coach] and it’s something that we’re looking to work on and help the team as much as we can when the ball is coming over the top.
“I think one of my strengths is sweeping when the ball is coming through. Obviously, the gaffer wants us to play a bit higher than normal and it’s something that we’ve got to get used to, so hopefully over the next couple of weeks we’ll get used to it a lot more.
“He [Stendel] is a passionate guy; he wants us to do well. He wants us to press high, be energetic and get around the pitch, and I think we’ve got the lads to be able to buy into that. We’re a young group who have got the legs to be able to do that and hopefully everyone can buy into that pretty quick and get the results we want.”