Barnsley FC v Leyton Orient: Darrell Clarke hoping to turn Conor Hourihane's new chapter into happy ending

The League One game will be Hourihane's first after retiring from playing to concentrate fully on being part of Clarke's coaching staff.

For the club, it is their last match of the year at Oakwell, where they have taken 27 out of their 63 points.

"Let's not beat about the bush, our home form has not been good enough in the calendar year," said Clarke. "We need to rectify that. That's not just myself and the players, I think everybody can play a part.

"The fans have been magnificent at times. Around Christmas where money's tight we're doing everything we can to get as many fans in but we have to start turning this place into a fortress.

"We want to finish the year on a high, then 2025 let's have a really good calendar year at home.

"We've dropped 11 points from winning points this season so if we get in front it's kicking on. In recent performances that's what we've tried to do but it's been been a frustrating period for the home fans so to ask more from them would be disrespectful.

"We'll try to get more smiles on their faces in 2025."

Midfielder Hourihane made a habit of doing that in his first spell at the club but just 84 minutes of game-time whilst showing a ferocious work ethic for coaching made it the logical decision to drop the first part of the player-coach title he took when he returned in the summer.

"I was slowing down, I wasn't getting to the levels where I wanted to get to," said the 33-year-old former Republic of Ireland international. "I'm big on giving everything.

"Playing and coaching I couldn't do both roles. The fans remember a 25, 26, 27-year-old Conor Hourihane playing out of skin, especially towards the end of my Barnsley time and that player just isn't there any more.

"It's about creating new good days with the coaching side of it.

"I like to earn something and put in the hours. I like to learn, I like to see – long car journeys or deep thinking time or phonecalls that make you think, 'What am I doing this for?'

"I like going out and earning something and not being given it because there's more value in it. It was the same as my (playing) career, going from League Two into the Premier League"