Woodrow in squad as Tykes battle against drop
CAULEY Woodrow will be back in Barnsley’s squad for the Good Friday trip to Swansea City.
Goalkeeper Brad Collins and centre-back Michal Helik will both miss the game, but the return of the Reds’ talismanic striker and club captain is significant.
“It will definitely be a boost for us,” commented coach Poya Asbaghi. “He is a leader.
“He has a calm personality and even though he’s not old he has a lot of experience so just his presence on the bus travelling means a lot for us.”
Woodrow’s leadership will in part make up for the loss of Helik and Collins, who was injured in the defeat at Millwall.
“He’s not too good right now,” siad Asbaghi of the goalkeeper. “Unfortunately there’s a big, big question mark whether he will make even the last game (of the season).
“We have to rule him out if nothing really, really good happens during his rehab.
“He had problems with his shoulder. It’s a muscle problem and we were hoping the grade of it would not be so serious but it was a little bit more serious than we were hoping for.”
Barnsley do at least have an experienced replacement in Jack Walton.
“He just needs to get warm in the clothes but he has experience at this level, he has played before, so I’m not worried about Jack coming in and doing a good job.”
Helik will miss the Easter programme but there is more optimism the centre-back’s season is not over.
“There is a chance he could return for the last games, a bigger chance than with Brad,” said Asbgahi.
“We have a tight schedule now and he will for sure miss tomorrow’s game (at Swansea) and the Peterborough game (on Monday) will be too close but after that, let’s see.
“The ambition after the Peterborough game to see how he’s recovered and re-evaluate.”