Barnsley will have extra motivation for tomorrow’s match against Burton Albion as they are led out by Stephen Croft, the club volunteer who had a heart attack when the fixture was cancelled in September.
This game was called off after Croft collapsed seconds before kick-off and had to be rescued by an air ambulance helicopter which landed on the pitch.
Assistant manager Dale Tonge said: “It will be mentioned and it is an extra motivation. The boys see Stephen every game and they will be playing for him.
“The game has extra significance in terms of Stephen, who will lead the team out. Stephen represents us as a club and does things for free as a volunteer so he is very important for us.
“I was away with the under 16s that morning and I arrived at the ground just as the incident was happening. It was awful but the response from the staff was fantastic.
"No one should go to football and not go home so it’s great that he’s better now. He’s one of our own and I know what this club is like and everyone groups together when things like that happen.”
Player Jacob Brown said: “I was meant to be starting that game then, when it happened, it was a sickening thing to see. When he came back to see us at training after he got better, it was good to see, and he was also at the Wimbledon game so I spoke to him after that. It will be good to see him again before the Burton game and hopefully we can get three points for him.”
Nigel Clough’s Burton are 12th, 11 points off the play-offs and nine clear of the relegation zone. Tonge said: “Nigel is what he is, he has a team who have a lot of desire and represent him well. We expect a very tough test from them. They will be very hard to beat and it’s up to us to break them down.”
Tomorrow’s fixture is Barnsley's game in hand on leaders Luton who are currently six points clear of the second-placed Reds. Luton do not play until Sunday so Barnsley could draw level with the leaders if they win against Burton then at Portsmouth on Saturday.
“It is a big opportunity. Psychologically we know that if we do our job in the next two games we can put a real mark down because Luton don’t play until Sunday.”
Barnsley top-scorer Kieffer Moore is still out following his concussion at Gillingham on February 9 and will miss tomorrow’s game as well as Saturday’s trip to Portsmouth.
The team could be the same as for the 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, but Ryan Hedges has a chance of starting after he came off the bench set up the second goal for Cauley Woodrow.
Tonge said: “Hedgey is banging on the door and performing excellently in training. He came on at the weekend and did exactly what you would want. He wants to get into the starting line-up. If people like Hedgey are performing like him in training, there is a chance to get in the team.”
