Jack Hunt persuaded his parent club Crystal Palace to let him join Barnsley until the end of the season rather than for just a month.
The 23-year-old right-back, who is from Leeds but made his name at Huddersfield Town before joining Premier League Palace last summer, was brought to Oakwell this week due to an injury to Ryan McLaughlin. Hunt said: “Palace wanted me to just come for a month but I wanted to come until the end of the season. Part of the reason for that is that I am from Leeds. My girlfriend is from Leeds as well and she’s pregnant so we wanted to have our first child up north.
“I didn’t have long to think about it but I didn’t need long. My old agent Ben Mansford (now Reds chief executive) spoke to my manager at Palace (Tony Pulis) who knows Danny Wilson really well. It was a chance to come out and get games. I’ve known Ben a long time and I’ve heard a lot of good things about Danny.”
Hunt has not played a game for the Eagles yet due to a broken ankle earlier in the season and admits he is still not 100 per cent comfortable.
He said: “I’m still in the early stages of my recovery but, with the window closing on Friday, Barnsley wanted to get me in. I just need to be patient and not rush myself. I’m not fully confident about my ankle and I still get a bit of pain even though it has fully healed. It will be hard to last for 90 minutes in my first game but it is a relegation battle at Sheffield Wednesday and I will put my body on the line. I will still go into tackles as I normally would.”
Hunt says he has had a ‘soft spot’ for Barnsley since the epic 2-2 draw at Huddersfield in final game of last season which kept both clubs up. He said: “When we came back out after the final whistle we got a standing ovation from the Barnsley fans. “Not many fans would do that. I have a lot of respect for them.”
Meanwhile, Barnsley have signed is Scotland B international goalkeeper Turner until the end of the season.
Turner, who turned 30 on Sunday, has played just 97 games in his career. He played six times for Everton in eight years and was loaned out to eight clubs including Doncaster and Sheffield Wednesday before signing for Preston where he scored a goal but was released in 2012 and has not played since.
Manager Danny Wilson said: “We haven’t got any cover for Luke Steele. If anything were to happen to Luke, it’s unfair to asked a young boy like Christian Dibble to play. Iain’s a first team ‘keeper but at the moment he’ll be cover.”
