Barnsley’s Patrick Schmidt hoping to get shirty with Chelsea in League Cup

The third-round Carabao Cup tie has all the classic ingredients in pitting an underdog against a footballing giant and it will also be a special one for Schmidt.

Sadly, Covid-19 restrictions will ensure Schmidt’s family will not be present, but the Austrian forward will no doubt be hoping to add to his dad’s selection of Chelsea jerseys by trying to secure one after the game next week.

Schmidt, whose opener at Middlesbrough put the Reds on the way to a trip to West London, said: “Chelsea is the club I was kind of following most because my dad went to Stamford Bridge every year when I was a kid and always brought himself the Chelsea kit. So it is a perfect game.

“Actually, my favourite player (in England) was Thierry Henry, so it is the wrong club! But Didier Drogba was also someone else I enjoyed watching.

“I can say it now because it is not still my password, but when I was young, Drogba was always our password on the computer because my dad loved him and had been to Stamford Bridge.”

Buoyed by his dramatic last-gasp strike against Nottingham Forest at the end of last season and a goal for Austria Under-21s against England recently, Schmidt is looking increasingly confident and assured in his Reds career after a mixed first season.

He added: “At the beginning, it was not easy and I have now got used to things in the last months.

“As a striker, you need confidence to make good games and goals and trust from the coach.

“It was always a good relationship when I was on the bench and he said: ‘I believe in you and know you can show good performances and have very good moments’.

“I wanted to show it more often and want to show it more in the future and score goals.”

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