LeroyLita said a chance to play for the man who started his career was the reason he decided to drop down to League One and sign for Barnsley.
The 29-year-old striker penned a one-year deal with the Reds on Saturday which may be extended if he and the team both hit certain performance goals. Lita – now the oldest player at Oakwell – watched the game against Crawley on Saturday then played the first 61 minutes of the League Cup defeat to Crewe on Tuesday.
He is reunited with Danny Wilson who brought him to Bristol City following his release from Chelsea and gave him his professional debut in 2002. The former Sheffield Wednesday striker said: "I know Danny very well and I like the way he works. I learnt a lot from him. He hasn't really changed in the last ten years. He still gets the best out of every player in the team. "He gave me my professional debut at home to Blackpool and I remember it well. I had other clubs interested but it was an easy decision because Danny was involved."
Wilson left Bristol in 2004 before his work with Lita came to fruition as the striker got 29 goals the next season and earned a £1million move to Reading. He has since played for a host of clubs in the top two divisions and has 112 goals in 260 career games as well as six in nine for England under 21s. Wilson said: "You could see against Crawley that we need a goal threat and hopefully that's what Leroy will bring. He's very rusty and it showed on Tuesday. He's nowhere near match fit and he knows it. We will use the next few games to get him fit.
"But, when we do, we think we'll have a very good striker. "Give him a chance and he'll take it. With all due respect to Leroy, he doesn't do a lot else in the game but he's a goal-scorer. "He has given us a bit more experience up front."
