Barnsley boss on the 'captaincy material' within Jack Shepherd - and a few words of advice for ex-Bradford City loanee
IT has been a year of discernible progress in the career of Jack Shepherd.
Heading into autumn, the Barnsley centre-half has a fair bit to be pleased about, having won a promotion medal during a memorable loan spell at Bradford City last season and then re-establishing himself back at Oakwell.
A further noteworthy moment was also afforded the ex-Pontefract Collieries defender earlier this month when he took the captain’s armband in the second half of the Reds’ EFL Cup first-round encounter against Fleetwood Town on home soil.
Barnsley emerged victorious on penalties to set up a home derby against Rotherham United in round two on Tuesday night.
For his part, Conor Hourihane has detected clear leadership credentials within Shepherd, with the 24-year-old having shown his mettle during a tense promotion run-in during the spring with Bradford, where the pressure involved was considerable as the Bantams sought to end their six-season stint in League Two.
Shepherd's mentality, alongside his prowess at the back, was mentioned by City chief Graham Alexander on more than one occasion and the South Yorkshireman is starting to show positive traits in that regard at Oakwell after an 'acclimatisation period' when he first joined the club from non-league football back in the summer of 2023 - when he was handed his big chance in the professional realm.
Hourihane said: "I think Shep has got that leadership role in him.
"He is captain material, but has room to develop his own game first before worrying too much about captaincy.
"I wanted to give it to him in the second half (against Fleetwood) because it felt like he had the most personality on the pitch to do that job after Davo (Davis Keillor-Dunn) went off.
"He has definitely got that leadership quality, but he needs to have real focus on his game day to day, which he has by the way, to improve and command the backline and be that vocal one.
"He does that quite naturally, but needs to push himself every day to bring that to the table even more so as he gets more experience.
"And then obviously, the captaincy at clubs would naturally come."
Barnsley have another home derby on Saturday when they host Huddersfield Town in League One.
The Reds’ scheduled September 6 game at Stevenage has been called off due to international call-ups.