MATTY Wolfe is hoping to build on his impressive full debut for Barnsley and believes his years of injury problems are behind him.

The 21-year-old central midfielder started the 1-0 loss to Bournemouth last month, and received praise for his performance, but picked up a hamstring tear which means he has missed the last three games. He is now back in contention to play. Wolfe, who has had back problems in the past, told the Chronicle: “I have had long injuries and this was a short one so I am grateful in that way but it’s not ideal to be back in the injury room after starting your first game.

“The back issues have been forgotten about. If I can play a lot of games, it will become a pattern and the injuries will be a thing of the past.”

Wolfe was thrilled to make his full debut after being at the club for more than a decade. He said: “The day before, the team was on the presentation board and it said ‘Matthew Wolfe’. I was buzzing and barely slept the night before. I thought we did well. It was tough because we were just playing long so we had to win second balls.

“My granddad, my dad, my brother and my dad’s friend all came. I was trying to find them in the stand but I couldn’t.

“They’ve always supported me and believed in me so it’s nice to make them proud.

“I had to put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ because so many people messaged me.

“It’s two years later than I wanted but I was still buzzing to start for Barnsley. It was just a shame about the result. We deserved to get something but we picked up nothing again which is how things are going at the moment.”

Wolfe spent the first half of the season on loan at Barnsley’s sister club Esbjerg in the Danish second division along with four of his Reds club-mates.

“It was good. I just went out there and got games. They were good people out there. I expected them to not speak English but everyone could. It got a bit lonely at times, because you are just in a room on your own. It was good to have some of the other Barnsley players there who I could hang around with. The food wasn’t up to scratch but I enjoyed it there overall. It was a small but nice city. Everything was about the football. I got 16 or 17 games in five months which is the longest run I have had without injuries so it helped a lot.”

What are Wolfe’s aims now for the season?

“As a team we need to start winning and stay up. We know the circumstances with the club and fans. No one can get us out of it but ourselves. I just want to start as many games as a I can and help the team”

Barnsley – who are eight points from safety – host promotion-chasing QPR tomorrow. Wolfe said: “It’s a huge game, QPR are flying.

“We know not many people will expect much from us. But we’ve been training well and we’re determined to get three points and get everyone onside again.”