LIAM KITCHING faith shown by the coaching staff in Liam, who wears the captain’s armband in the absence of Mads. Leadership skills can often be hard to come by – especially in a team as young as the Reds’ – but Kitch has demonstrated that he can also be a player who others turn to when things aren’t going our way. “Off the pitch, I try to help the lads as much as I can and give them confidence and have a laugh and try to be a leader around the place,” discussed the 23-year-old. “When someone is like that, it does help a lot – we’re quite a young team, and I do try to motivate the lads. “Everyone is a different type of leader, like Mads is more calm and reassuring – you need different types of leaders. Everyone looks up to Mads, which is a good thing, and I want to be like him in some senses.” With this understanding on the pitch, you begin to see patterns of play emerging – a lot of which start from Kitch as he launches long diagonal passes to the opposite flank for an onrushing Jordan Williams to scamper onto. The defender is also granted licence to roam forward by Duff as he effectively becomes an extra full-back, creating overloads on the flanks and gaps for teammates to be more creative. “The gaffer always tells me to get forward, so I like doing that and creating overloads in the wide areas,” he said. “I’m trying to get myself a few assists or in good areas to break the defensive line and give other players more space to create. “If I’m in those positions, I can try and get a few more goals, too. “The patterns we do – and we work on them a lot – are an effective bit of our play. We don’t always have to play short – we can mix it up – and Jord’s really good at understanding it now when I get the ball, if he makes the run, I’ll play the ball if I think it’s on. “It hurts opposition teams, and the gaffer says to keep doing it, so I’ll keep doing it.” In that marvellous run of form at the end of last year, it was only this afternoon’s visitors, <strong>Accrington</strong>, who took points off us as we won seven out of eight matches. We led courtesy of James Norwood’s first half strike at the Wham Stadium but were pegged back after the interval having conceded a somewhat controversial penalty for handball against Liam. “I don’t think it’s a penalty,” insisted Kitch. “My arm is across my body, and it’s hit it, so I’m not sure how to move it out of the way or into another position. “It was a frustrating one at <strong>Accrington</strong>. I think we did enough to win the game, but it’s just that ruthlessness and cutting edge. It didn’t really help on the day that the referee gave the penalty, but that’s football and we’ve moved on from it. “We’ve taken the positives from that game, and we can use those in the game coming up to hurt them at Oakwell, and I’m more than confident that we can create the same performance. “If we play like that, then I’m sure we’ll win the game.” IF I’M IN THOSE POSITIONS, I CAN TRY AND GET A FEW MORE GOALS, TOO. OAKWELL REVIEW 20 BARNSLEY VS ACCRINGTON STANLEY
LIAM KITCHING OAKWELL REVIEW 21 BARNSLEY VS ACCRINGTON STANLEY