Barnsley keen to give youngsters deserved timeout

Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom pictured at Oakwell on Tuesday night. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM has revealed that he is planning on giving busy Barnsley loan duo Harvey Barnes and Ike Ugbo a breather to enable them to freshen up mentally.

Alongside club business, international commitments with representative England teams since the summer have ensured that the pair have had little chance for a touch of rest and recuperation since joining the club, with Heckingbottom endeavouring to find a small pocket of time to afford them a mini-break.

The Reds head coach said: “Harvey and Ike had not had a break yet, which is a problem for us.

“We have had certain players who have been away on international breaks or not and we have planned our season around the breaks and how hard we work them.

“Harvey and Ike have always been away, so we are going to have to look at the opportunity where we can get them away for a few days.

“Physically, they are fine, but it is mentally and what we put on them and ask them to do – but also the jump-up in standard for them – which is the issue.

“Harvey had never played in the Championship and Ike had never played league football, so we are going to have to manage them throughout the season as Harvey, in particular, has become a really important player for us.”

One player definitely not in need of a break is loan midfielder Gary Gardner, who made his return from two-and-a-half months out in Tuesday night’s frustrating 1-0 home loss to Cardiff City.

TIMEOUT: Barnsley's Ike Ugbo (right). Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA

The Aston Villa player had been expected to feature just for an hour, but lasted the course, to provide some solace for Heckingbottom.

He added: “There is certainly more to come from Gary. He did lots of good things, but he is nowhere near where he can possibly be.

“With Birdy (Jared Bird) on the bench, I possibly thought Gary was not going to last, but with the game was going, we needed to get 90 out of him.”

Meanwhile, Heckingbottom has revealed that the club’s medical staff will assess Reds captain Angus MacDonald ahead of Saturday’s home derby with Leeds United after he missed Tuesday’s game with a foot injury.

X-rays have revealed that the defender suffered no break after coming off in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Norwich City and he could be handed an injection to enable him to feature at the weekend.