Barnsley FC chief Darrell Clarke praises 'brilliant' midfielder and reveals why striker came off early at Cambridge United

BARNSLEY head coach Darrell Clarke praised the ‘brilliant’ contribution from the bench of early substitute Kelechi Nwakali, on an afternoon when his Reds career finally got truly off and running in the Reds’ 1-1 League One draw at Cambridge United.

The former Nigerian international midfielder entered the fray after just eight minutes when Max Watters made way due to an injury issue.

Nwakali, who joined the club in mid-August, excelled in his first meaningful league outing of the campaign and showed some delightful poise and vision with his range of passing and also went close to scoring in the second half.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Reds had to settle for a point, despite dominating on the resumption.

Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke. Photo: Tony Johnson.Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke. Photo: Tony Johnson.
Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke. Photo: Tony Johnson.

Earlier, on 17 minutes, Stephen Humphrys went solo to cancel out Dan Nlundulu’s deflected fourth-minute opener for the U’s.

A host of chances came and went in the second period, but the visitors couldn’t find a winner to record their fourth consecutive victory at the Abbey Stadium.

Alongside extending their unbeaten sequence to six league matches, the big plus was the excellent contribution from Nwakali.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On the change, Clarke, who switched from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2, said: "It was enforced. Max had an injury and I thought Kelechi did brilliantly when he came on. We needed to change things with that and the boys adapted well.

"Sometimes, earlier in the season, we would have been a little bit over the shop. But the boys are working their patterns and opportunities and on another day, we win the game.

"He is going a lot better and in training, his fitness levels are up. We said all along it was going to take a bit of time and maybe in December and January, so he’s come into the team a little bit earlier than expected. But that’s because of his work rate and attitude.

"He picked a lot of good passes out there and that will give him a lot of confidence and certainly gives me confidence.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It was a great drive, to hit that ball so powerfully after running 50 or 60 yards was a great finish. I was pleased with a lot of performance, but frustrated and disappointed we didn’t take the three points.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1754
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice