'Confidence': Barnsley FC midfielder Kelechi Nwakali reveals key motivation from Darrell Clarke as Reds boss savours 'massive bonus'

The former Arsenal midfielder and Nigeria international, who joined from Portuguese outfit Chaves in mid-August, has had to wait patiently for his opportunity at league level. It finally arrived in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Cambridge United, albeit through circumstance with Nwakali entering the fray on eight minutes after Max Watters departed due to injury.

Nwakali, whose previous league appearance came as a late replacement in the recent win at Shrewsbury Town, took his chance with both hands, producing an outstanding performance and giving Clarke food for thought going forward.

Nwakali said: "I have been waiting for the opportunity, so when it came, I thought to myself ‘it’s time to take it.’

"He (Clarke) told me in the week that I have, as a player, all the details he likes and he is one of the gaffers who gives you confidence as a player.

"As a player, even if you are not starting, you should always keep your head and at the right time, when the opportunity comes, you can be able to take it. You don’t know what is going to happen in a game.

"It’s the first (league) game I have played a lot of minutes in, which is good and it’s an opportunity to keep building confidence."

An admiring Clarke labelled Nwakali's contribution as 'brilliant' and stressed that the confidence that the schemer has gained from Saturday's outing is now matched by his own in feeling comfortable in picking him at league level going forward - should he choose to.

The Reds chief added: "He is doing a lot better and in training, his fitness levels are up.

"We said all along it was going to take a bit of time and maybe in December and January, so he’s come into the team a little bit earlier than expected. But that’s because of his work rate and attitude.

"He picked a lot of good passes out there and that will give him a lot of confidence and certainly gives me confidence for future games.

"Kelechi is a massive bonus and you can see with Kelechi’s performance that he’s ready when called upon to put in a real good shift. Everyone is chomping at the bit to be in the team and that’s what we need, competition for places."

Despite a dominant second-half performance, the Reds – who cancelled out Dan Nlundulu’s deflected early opener with a fine solo strike from Stephen Humphrys on 17 minutes – had to settle for a point, which drops them down to fifth place.

Clarke, whose side are now five matches unbeaten at league level and now have three successive home matches in all competitions, continued: "It was a frustrated changing room, which is a good sign because the performance was worthy of a win, but you have got to finish your chances and we’ll work on that and improve.

"We had a lot of entries and opportunities in the box.

“There were a few chances in the second half. We played a lot of the game in their half, but it wasn’t meant to be.”