Derby County v Barnsley: Growing pains over now Matty Wolfe keen to avoid pain of relegation

The strapping Wakefield lad – named as man-of-the-match in last weekend’s absorbing win over Middlesbrough – is finally standing tall in the Reds’ starting line-up.

At 21, it might just be his time at long last.

Given what happened in the past which left him justifiably questioning whether he would make the first-team grade, the story is all the more meaningful and soul-enhancing.

Here is a young footballer who has earned his chance the hard way.

In his later teenage years, the academy product had serious problems with his back which were traced back to a growth spurt at the age of 16.

He got through it with the help of his club and family. His grandad remains an avid supporter, while his father Paul – a former player on the amateur scene in Wakefield with the likes of Little Bull – is always there to dispense fatherly advice.

During the time when Wolfe was afflicted with back issues, there was also some tough love.

Wolfe said: “I had to sleep in a certain way on my back on a night.

“There were little things; if I was chilling in bed and on a game with my mates, I had to sit up straight. My dad used to come in and make sure I was sat up straight and if not, he’d give me a rollicking.

“It was a case of doing everything to try and get rid of the problems.

“There were some tough moments where I was questioning things after being out for a year and then coming back and being out for a year again with the same thing. I was thinking whether my back was ever going to be able to hold up.

“But it has really settled down since I have stopped growing and that will be the end of that. I grew a fair few inches one summer when I was sixteen and it was difficult to keep training and stay fit.

“It got on top of me a bit, but I feel like I have come back a lot stronger and it has made me what I am today.”

On the specific input from his ‘old man’, he continued: “When I was young, if I had a bad game or anything, I’d get in the car and get a ‘gobful’ all the way home.

“But I feel like when I am doing well, he’s my biggest fan as well. But even if I am doing well, he will pick up on the little things I could have done better.

“But it is nice to have him there. He used to play and reckoned he was a decent player.”

Overcoming his issues with his back proved a challenge, but there were more hurdles to clear for Wolfe in his development.

Heading into this season, he badly needed game time and something akin to the equivalent of finishing school to give himself the best chance of proving himself at first-team level.

A spell on loan at National League side Notts County had been significantly interrupted by injury last term. For Wolfe, his time came amid the unlikely surroundings of Danish second-tier outfit Esbjerg fB, one of a portfolio of clubs owned by the Pacific Media Group, Barnsley’s majority shareholders.

Wolfe spent the first half of this season there on loan and hasn’t looked back since returning.

It is timely as well, with his contract due to expire in the summer and the young Yorkshireman desperate to stay at the club where he has been on the books since the age of nine.

He continued: “When I went (to Esjberg), I was a boy and feel like I came back as a man.

“Living on your own where people cannot speak your language means you are fending for yourself. But for me, it was just football, eat, sleep, football, eat, sleep. I just needed to get my mind and mentality right.

“Over there, the football was probably less physical and there were a lot of young lads just trying to get it down and play.

“Here, it is a touch more physical. But I feel like it suits me as well, as I like a bit of a battle.”

Barnsley are certainly in a battle and are showing appetite for the survival fight in the nick of time after three wins in their last four matches.

Another huge scrap is likely at Pride Park today, which won’t be for the faint-hearted.

Wolfe was on the periphery of Barnsley’s ‘Great Escape’ two seasons ago. But the more observant may just recall that he did produce key contribution.

It arrived on his league debut against Nottingham Forest in Barnsley’s penultimate league fixture of the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season in July 2020.

The Reds’ second-tier tenure was hanging by a thread on that balmy and barmy Oakwell day.

Wolfe was thrown on midway through the second half of the Reds’ final home game of the campaign, with the hosts requiring something akin to divine inspiration to keep their brave survival fight alive.

It came in the nick of time when Wolfe’s assist in the 94th-minute set up Patrick Schmidt – currently on loan at Esbjerg – for a dramatic 94th-minute winner.

An encore then arrived in staggering fashion on a night no-one will ever forget at Brentford’s old Griffin Park home when Clarke Oduor was the hero.

Both astounding episodes proved it is never over until its over and it is timely advice for a Reds side who are again attempting to co-ordinate another act of relegation escapology in the here and now.

On that Forest game, Wolfe recalled: “I flicked the ball on and it went to Patrick, so I will take that!

“Just being amid the dressing room and among that atmosphere as well, it was just relief when you finally make it and stay up. We are hoping to replicate that this year.

“Brentford was just brilliant. When Clarkey scored, I was on the bench and we just sprinted to the corner flag.

“We were keeping up with the scores on phones and we knew we had stayed up after that. It was brilliant to see the lads on the way home.”

Hopefully, there will be similar joy for those in red in a few months’ time.