U23s midfielder Joe Ackroyd has insisted he and his teammates ‘played for the badge’ in their 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town on Tuesday afternoon.
The 19-year-old, who usually operates as a midfielder, completed 90 minutes at left wing-back in a makeshift side.
Due to the absence of several regulars, a number of players were called up from younger age groups and battled hard to secure a richly deserved point.
“I think on the balance of play you could say it was a fair result, but I think we had chances to kill the game,” began Ackroyd.
“I think it was disappointing to end up conceding late on considering how well we had defended throughout.”
Despite the lack of experience, Barnsley’s younger players did not look out of place at U23s level and Ackroyd has insisted he is proud of his teammates.
“The experience at this level is excellent for the lads,” he continued. “I’m proud of them all, we had lads playing out of position, young lads coming up, and we’ve all put a shift in and we played for the badge.”
Although the teenager was playing in an unfamiliar position, he was satisfied with his performance up against some tricky Tractor Boys.
“I’m a midfielder naturally but the manager asked me to play left wing-back and I’ll always try my best to do a job for the team,” asserted Ackroyd.
“I enjoyed it; it was physically demanding but I felt like I did my job well enough.”
Ackroyd did, however, concede it was frustrating to concede an equaliser after the young Reds had worked so tirelessly to break the deadlock.
“It was a kick in the stomach to concede late on,” he added. “I think in that situation we’ve got to learn from it next time and see games out, getting fouls and playing in the opposition half. It was disappointing.”
