Barnsley and Charlie Lennon's patience rewarded with timely debut strike

Signed from Middlesbrough on January 17, the 19-year-old winger had to wait two months for his Football League debut, coming off the bench 71 minutes into the game at home to Wigan Athletic, which Barnsley were trailing 1-0.

Twenty-five minutes later he scored the stoppage-time equaliser which was reward for how all the Reds substitutes lifted a lacklustre performance.

Then it was into the dressing room for a quick debrief, back onto the pitch for the extra running substitutes are put through after matches, then straight into the Oakwell press room, still in his kit.

Not until 10.49pm could he try to speak to his family. Fortunately, this is a youngster with his head screwed on.

“I haven't been on my phone yet,” he says. “I haven't spoken to anyone or seen what they've said.”

His priority was his parents.

“They weren't here, but they'll be watching,” he adds, with the game live on Sky. “My dad's been with me from the start, going to Middlesbrough (training) since I was six-, seven-years-old. I'm sure he will be buzzing.”

A loan at Conference North Darlington in the first half of the season was crucial but stepping up three divisions and replacing Reyes Cleary, arguably the third tier's best winger this season, is not just a technical challenge.

“The past couple of years I think I've focused on it (the mental side) more because I felt like when it came to the big moments sometimes I'd think, 'Can I just get through it?' or I wouldn't want to fully put myself out there and go, 'I'm going to take the game by the scruff of the neck.'

“I feel now I can not just drift through it and be like, 'I'm here now, just do all right.'” Lennon backed up those words with a performance of get-up-and-go, contrasting with a first half coach Conor Hourihane described as lacking "appetite to want to win a game of football”.

Lennon has a coach who is a fan of both wingers and developing young players.

“He's been really patient,” said Hourihane.

“He's come to see me a couple of times about what can I do more to try and get on the pitch.

“I just said to him, 'A lot of the games since you've come to the club have been really tight.'

“Hopefully he can build on that and get more minutes between now and the end of the season.”

That is important because developing players is a big part of Hourihane's brief.

The trick for “development clubs” is having the next big thing lined up before you sell the current one. Cleary looks Championship-ready, so can Lennon become League One-ready?

“Reyes is a top guy,” says Lennon. “Just watching him play, the way he tries to go at people, you're thinking that's what you need to do – just try and excite the crowd, get balls in the box, create things."

A 1-1 draw at home to a bottom-half team was nothing to write home about, yet it feels like Barnsley are in a better place for it.