As he prepares his team for Monday's play-off final against Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley, Barnsley head coach Michael Duff said about...
The use of VAR in the final
“We welcome it because, in other games, you are hoping the officials don’t make a mistake. In this one they shouldn’t.
“The players have a meeting with the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) to give them an understanding of how it works. We watched Howard Webb on Monday Night Football and that’s probably the only insight we have into it. The meeting will educate us all a bit more.
“It (VAR) should eradicate any human error and that’s the reason it has been brought in.
“I would imagine it will be used at some point for something. It will be a new experience for everyone. I have never been involved in it, I don’t think the players have.”
How significant is Barnsley doing the double over Wednesday?
“It will have no impact, other than the fact we know we can beat them.
“They are older, a lot more experienced, thousands more league appearances – that might help them or it might not.
“Our youth might help us. We won’t know until the game pans out.
“They are a huge club with big players and big players step up in big moments.
“We’re not going for a day out, we’re going to win.
“I would imagine if you look at the betting, we will be the underdogs.
“They finished on 96 points, loads of goals, loads of clean sheets, 23 games unbeaten, they came back from 4-0 down in the play-offs.
“But it’s a one-off game and we know we can hurt them.
“Hopefully someone will step up and be the hero.”
Is he worried his young side might freeze on the big stage with a big crowd?
“I don’t have concerns about it. It might happen. But it could happen with older players. It is who can handle the occasion, and deliver better performances.”
The plan for the weekend
“We will travel down on Friday and have an hour at Wembley.
“It’s to familiarise themselves with it. We don’t want them gawping around when they turn up on the day.
“Then we will train at Brentford on Saturday and Sunday.
“We will make the build-up as normal as we can but we can’t hide how big the game is.”
Has he got special words prepared for pre-match?
“No. You don’t need to give an ‘Any Given Sunday’ speech. If players need motivation in a Wembley final derby, they are in the wrong job.
“We might need to calm them down, so they are not headless chickens and stick to the process.”
What is his message to the fans?
“Good luck getting there. Hopefully the traffic is not too bad. We want supporters to do the same as the players – turn up, enjoy it and give the best version of yourself. I hope the same for Wednesday as well. Let’s make it a brilliant occasion then hopefully the best team wins. Hopefully no there is no nonsense between the fans tarring a really special day.”
