Following his man of the match performance against Coventry City, Liam Kitching says he was thrilled to be able to give the raucous home support a taste of what to expect this term.
The Reds played some lovely intricate football and took a deserved lead before half-time and then showed strength of character to see the game out and claim three valuable points.
“I’m buzzing and I’m just delighted to let the home fans see what we’re going to do this season and, hopefully, we’re heading in the right direction,” he asserted. “It was really good to have the fans there, always pushing us – they were the 12th man, really.
“The fans and adrenaline make everything a lot easier, especially to come to Barnsley and for the away team to play in front of the crowd I’m sure it’s not very nice, but good for us.”
It has been a tough start to Kitching’s career at Oakwell, with injury setbacks robbing him of a few months after signing in January.
However, he was a commanding presence against the Sky Blues and exuded confidence as we kept our first clean sheet of the league campaign – thanks, by and large, to Brad Collins’ dramatic penalty save in injury time.
“It’s our main job as defenders and a goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet and, hopefully, the attackers will do their job,” continued Kitching.
“Near the end I slipped up a few times and I was feeling it at the end of the match. But the lads dug deep and Brad Collins saved me, to be fair.”
