Barnsley midfielder Herbie Kane can vouch for that after working with both over the past two seasons.

Players have bought into Duff's ethos at Oakwell. There are no grey areas with the Reds boss straightforward and honest in his dealings with them and keen to cultivate a sense of togetherness.

It was the same when Kane was on loan at Robinson's Oxford last season.

Kane, speaking ahead of the Cup tie at Bolton, said: "When you are working day in day out, you get a connection with a manager whether that is good or bad. As a player, there's nothing better than knowing where you stand and getting honesty, whether that's in your favour or not, you learn from it. As a player, you cannot ask for much more, really.

"The togetherness is something that the manager has wanted to improve and it is showing on the pitch that we stick together. Even though we feel we have not had the (recent) luck with us, we feel we are still working hard as a team and sticking together."

Meanwhile, Duff has confirmed he has spoken to James Norwood after he went onto social media after last weekend's win over old club Forest Green.

Rovers fans stayed behind at the end of the League One game to barrack the forward with a short video later appearing on Twitter.

Norwood interacted with the tweet and said: “Thanks to the 13 of you making the trip and for the 3 points . ”

Duff said: "He played well and there was nothing positive to come out of that in my opinion.' To be fair to him, he said: 'yes, I probably didn't need to get involved.'

"It was not a 'dressing down' or anything, but a bit of advice.”

Barnsley FC midfielder Herbie Kane praises Michael Duff's core qualities