Our central midfielder spoke to iFollow Barnsley, providing an update on his rehabilitaton from a knee injury sustained in pre-season.
The Reds academy graduate has taken the next step in his recovery from the injury picked up in the summer and is now training on the grass with our physio team.
There is no ideal time for a footballer to be forced to spend time on the sidelines, but this pre-season showed promising signs that the upcoming campaign would be a breakthrough one for the 21-year-old. However, Ackroyd now has another hurdle to overcome before thinking about emerging in the senior team.
"That was my plan definitely, coming into this season," he began. "Obviously, I've had this little bit of a setback and it was a sore one to take, to be honest. You feel like you've waited all this time and put all the hours in to get to this point.
"To finally get your chance and then get hit with a setback. But I suppose that is life, isn't it. You've just got to overcome it and come back stronger."
To allow a return to the training pitch, rehabilitation is intensive for footballers in the gym to build back up the required strength to perform as an elite athlete.
This element of the youngster's work in recent weeks has added another dimension to his armoury, according to Ackroyd.
"I'm getting a lot stronger now in my quads and my hamstrings. I've never really been the quickest player, I always say I'm a log burner not a firework! Slow and steady. But I definitely feel like I'm going to be coming back quicker. I've had time to really concentrate on my lower body."
Joe Ackroyd's exclusive interview is available on iFollow Barnsley.
We have an upcoming double-header at Oakwell in the next week in Sky Bet League One.
Burton Albion are the visitors on Saturday 16 September in a 3pm kick-off, before we welcome Portsmouth on Tuesday 19 September, that one kicking off at 7:45pm.
Tickets for both games can be found by clicking the banners below.
