Versatile Tom happy to play different roles for Barnsley
TOM EDWARDS is happy to be versatile and play across Barnsley’s back five.
The 23-year-old, who joined on loan from Stoke City on deadline day last month, has made five appearances for the Reds.
He has been used in the back three, but also played at right wing-back in the absence of Jordan Williams in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Bolton Wanderers. He could also play on the left if needed.
Edwards said: “I enjoy playing right wing-back but I know I can slot in at centre back. We’ve got a very good team, great depth and I feel like we need everyone for the rest of the season. “I enjoyed playing there at Bolton.” Barnsley have not scored in their last two league matches but have kept clean sheets in their last four on the road in the league.
“Every time we go away from home we give it a good go, especially with the clean sheets we’re keeping.
“As a team we need to start scoring more goals, especially on the road.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to turn that around soon and start taking three points back with us.”
On the draw at Bolton, Edwards said: “I feel like it came down to the team performance. The way the game panned out obviously it wasn’t ideal for me but, as a team, we stuck in and dug deep.
“That’s our identity and every single player showed that today.
“We were expecting it.
“We gave up a bit too much of the ball and obviously all the lads will know that but the game’s gone now.
“We can always look back at it but we don’t like to do that. We want to kick on and go to the next game.
“But it’s a good point especially as they’ve had very good home form.
“I felt like it was tough getting things across on the pitch.
“When we got everyone in at half-time we were able to sort out the structure.
“We went back out and I felt we gave it a proper go and we showed our quality a bit more. I felt like at the end we had a few chances too.”
Barnsley were accused of slowing the game down, especially in the second half.
Edwards said: “That was a thing we spoke about before the game.
“Coming to a team like Bolton who obviously want to keep the ball moving – we wanted to slow it down as much as possible.
“Especially towards the end, it was massive for us.”