The sacking of a manager may not have been the type of experience Jack Butland was expecting when he came to Barnsley on loan but he is still determined to learn from his time at Oakwell.
The 20-year-old Stoke loanee had never been at a club when a manager had been sacked before Saturday when David Flitcroft left following defeat to the goalkeeper's former club Birmingham.
He told the Chronicle: "It wasn't nice. I wanted it to pass as quick as possible. He spoke to us. He said thank you to everyone. A lot of the lads have been with him for a long, long time so it was tough.
"But we showed at Brighton that we've put it behind us. In football there's always opportunities to bounce back. We said in the changing room that it was for Flitcroft, Scotty (Martin Scott) and Guy (Proctor) but it was also for ourselves. We needed to prove we could beat the best teams in this league."
England international Butland, who is on loan at Barnsley until Boxing Day, is hoping to be part of Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad in Brazil next year and has previously stated that he wants to spend the second half of the season on loan at a Premier League club if he cannot displace Asmir Begovic at Stoke.
He did not rule out spending the whole season at Barnsley. Speaking after he continued his excellent form for the Reds with some fine saves in the win at Brighton on Tuesday, he said: "I doubt I will go out again until the end of January. My plan has always been to play in the Premier League and it still is. "If it happens this season then great. If it doesn't then I will look to go back out to the Championship, and that could be at Barnsley."
