Adam Davies says being named Barnsley's captain for the upcoming season is a 'massive boost' after the last campaign which saw him dropped from the first team which was relegated to League One.
The 26-year-old goalkeeper was named skipper by head coach Daniel Stendel yesterday and is expected to start the season ahead of youngster Jack Walton who replaced him for the final three matches of last season. Davies said: "It is a big boost for me to be captain after a tough season last time.I have come back strong this season and feel really good.
"You have setbacks in football but you try to put that right. Last season has toughened me up and I've learned a lot. Being captain doesn't mean I am going to play every week, I still have to perform. It's a massive privilege to captain this club. I owe a lot to the club, they have stuck by me through thick and thin. I have had four great years so far, there have been highs and lows but the majority of it has been fantastic.
"I think I will be a wise head and someone people can talk to if they have a problem. I am quite an open guy. The gaffer has asked me to be more vocal in games and in training, which I am working on."
Stendel is creating a 'leadership group' to support the captain. Davies said: "The gaffer has asked for four or five leaders, not just one. When we go to talk to the gaffer, there are four or five of us who go to see him. Kieffer Moore and Cameron McGeehan are other lads he is looking to. We are a unit and we help the younger boys."
Having suffered relegation last season, Davies admits the Reds are looking for an immediate return to the Championship. He said: "We are an ambitious group and we want promotion, but it's a quiet thing around the changing room and we don't speak about it too much. We just want a good start then we'll take it from there."
In his previous three Oakwell summers, Davies has seen a host of new players brought in but, so far this off-season, only Kenny Dougall has joined the Reds. He said: "It's been nice. It hasn't been as hard to get to know each other. Sometimes it's a bit hectic with loads of new signings. There's already a team spirit which is half the battle in football. There have been a couple of lads linked with moves away but the club are not letting them go because they want that promotion. It shows we are all moving in the right direction as a club."
