Barnsley sign 'clever' Hayes to boost strike options

The 27-year-old striker has joined the Reds on an initial loan deal from Preston North End that is due to run until January 1.

Hayes, whose switch to Yorkshire means Iain Hume can stay on loan at Deepdale for another month, spent two years at Oakwell and helped the club to promotion from League One before leaving for Scunthorpe United in 2007.

It means the striker is, for the second time in his career after also having two stints at Glanford Park, going against the popular football adage of 'never going back.'

Despite that, he last night insisted: "I got a phone call to say Barnsley wanted to take me on loan and it wasn't a hard decision to make.

"When I left Barnsley I didn't expect to come back, just as I didn't expect to go back to Scunthorpe when I left there.

"But now I am back it feels good. It is a confidence booster to hear the manager wants me here."

Hayes netted 18 goals in 89 appearances for Barnsley during his first spell at Oakwell.

Asked why he opted to leave on a free transfer after helping the Reds avoid relegation under then manager Simon Davey, he said: "To cut a long story short, what it was down to was the old manager who was here.

"We had different opinions on things.

"That happens in football, you have disagreements and then you get on with it."

Asked what it felt like to be back at Oakwell, Hayes added: "It feels good. Barnsley have done well this season compared to Preston and are just five or six points off the play-offs.

"The personnel is totally different now. There is only Bobby Hassell still here.

"It is a totally new set of players and coaching staff. They are a good bunch of lads and that shows in where the club and team have finished in the last two seasons."

During three years at Glanford Park, Hayes claimed a second promotion success from League One and then last season helped keep the Iron in the second tier.

A return of 40 goals from 136 starts for Scunthorpe then attracted the attention of Preston manager Darren Ferguson, who signed the striker last summer.

Hayes then netted three goals in the opening four games of the season only to have since fallen out of favour at Deepdale.

Barnsley manager Robins said: "Paul was someone I wanted to sign during the summer but we missed out because Preston made an offer that he could not refuse. Once we had an opportunity to go back in for him then we did."

Ahead of Hayes's possible second 'debut' for Barnsley tomorrow when Hull City are the visitors for a Yorkshire derby being shown live by Sky, Robins added: "He will bring plenty of experience to the team, including the experience of scoring against us last season (for Scunthorpe).

"Paul is a clever player. I am not saying we don't have clever players here, we do. But I'm looking for a lot of clever players. Paul falls into that category.

"He has a good touch and a decent scoring record, while he is also someone who can create goals for other players as well.

"The goals he scored when we lost 2-1 to Scunthorpe last season showed what a clever player he is. He showed that day he can select the right finish at the right time."

Tomorrow pits Barnsley, whose impressive home record includes just one defeat, against a Hull side who have won just once on the road.

Robins added: "Nigel (Pearson, Hull manager) did brilliantly with Leicester City last season. He got them to the play-offs the season after winning promotion.

"I was a little bit surprised when he left, though I don't know what the circumstances were. Hull have had two years in the Premier League and Nigel has a lot of good players at his disposal."