DEFENDER Josh Earl says he has learned a lot from Barnsley’s backroom staff this summer – and admits a lot of the players are maturing at the right time.
The 26-year-old can play in multiple positions across the back four and started last Saturday’s 3-1 win at Plymouth at left-back.
Following Jack Shepherd’s suspension and the injury to Marc Roberts, it’s likely that Earl will start today's match against Burton Albion at centre-back.
He says he’s happy to play in either position and praised the Reds for their resilience after going down to ten men on the south coast – admitting it was a game the club would have either drawn or lost last season.
He said: “I think it was a mentality thing.
“A lot of players have matured, me included.
“There’s a few of the other lads that have matured.
“We had a very young back four finishing the game on Saturday.”
Earl was a teammate of current head coach Conor Hourihane at the start of last season before he retired and moved into coaching.
But the defender says even when he was playing alongside the Irishman, he always looked up to him.
He said: “He is very drilled.
“He knows exactly what he wants from us which is very helpful because we know what we need to do to either keep our spot in the team or perform better as a team.
“It was a great result on Saturday and we’ve got a chance this Saturday to get some decent home form going.
“We’re looking forward to it.
“I don’t even remember Conor as a teammate as much.
“I’ve always seen him as an experienced player you want to learn from.
“As soon as he went into coaching it’s not really changed much.
“Obviously you’ve got quite a good relationship with him because he’s quite young and it is really nice in that sense.
“But at the same time, he is driven and very focused.
“We definitely see him as the gaffer.”
Richard Keogh, a centre-back in his playing days, has joined the coaching staff at Oakwell.
And Earl says he’s enjoyed working with him so far.
He added: “We’ve been doing a lot of sessions with him.
“There’s a lot of unit work and moving your feet.
“It’s all the basics of defending that you sort of neglect a little bit when you become a professional.”
