Barnsley's central midfielders Cameron McGeehan and Alex Mowatt are especially fired up for tomorrow’s match with leaders Portsmouth for personal reasons.
McGeehan’s last game against Pompey, and his final match for previous club Luton Town, saw him break his leg in January last year. Some Portsmouth fans booed him as he was stretchered off then did so again when he played against them for loan club Scunthorpe United earlier this year.
The 23-year-old said: “They’ve booed me twice so they are holding something against me. “It would be nice to score against them and get the win. I think about it but it’s not on my mind all the time.
“To be fair, I did get a few letters from Portsmouth fans apologising which was good. Portsmouth is a massive club and my mum is from Portsmouth. I know being booed is just part of football.”
McGeehan’s central midfield partner Alex Mowatt also has a point to prove to Portsmouth. He missed a penalty against them for Oxford last season then was sent off for striking Nathan Thompson who celebrated the miss by running up to Mowatt and shouting in his face.
McGeehan said: “I saw that on TV. Al shouldn’t have reacted but it was poor from the Portsmouth player. We’ll both be motivated.”
The Reds have a policy of only signing players aged under 25, with their oldest player currently goalkeeper and captain Adam Davies who is 26.
Defeats in their last two away games and a widening gap between them and the teams in the two automatic promotion places have led some fans to question whether Barnsley are lacking leadership and if more experienced and older players should be signed in January.
McGeehan said: “I think we have enough leadership and experience. Obviously we are young but we have players with a lot of experience like Pottsy (Brad Potts) who has been playing in the Football League since he was 18 and Davo (Davies) who has been promoted from this league before.
“With a young team you miss some experience but you get a freshness and a workrate you don’t get sometimes from older players, and it is a more positive dressing room because of our age. As a young team we can learn throughout the season and get more experience as we play more games.
“In pre-season we wondered if we would get more experience in but we have had six or seven lads from the under 23s come into the first team and all of them have done really well.”
McGeehan struggled for regular football after signing for Barnsley and was loaned to Scunthorpe for the second half of last season, in which he admits he was not fully match fit.He then started this campaign on the bench but an injury which has put Kenny Dougall out until the New Year has given him a chance to start the last six league matches alongside Mowatt.
“I am pleased. I have been playing since Kenny got injured but he’s almost fit now which will give me good competition. I am back to doing what I can do and I just need to keep going.”
McGeehan knows even more competition could arrive next month during the January transfer window.
“I am sure the club is looking at new players. You usually get a few in in January. You always need to strengthen and freshen things up, but the lads are doing well and we’re looking to get into those top two places.”
McGeehan scored 25 goals in 80 games for Luton but has netted just twice in 38 league appearances since leaving the Bedfordshire club, who Barnsley are due to visit on New Year’s Day.
“I am playing a lot deeper so I have to pick and choose when I go forward but I definitely want to score more goals.”
