Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United bosses expecting toughest League One yet

It was a sobering occasion which didn’t go the way he wanted, quite the opposite in fact.

A long trip to Plymouth Argyle was first up for Duff’s Reds at the start of 2022-23 and it was a long old afternoon in Devon.

The visitors lost by a single goal, but it was a 1-0 “beating” in the view of Duff. Relegated from the Championship at the end of the previous campaign – just like his new club – Barnsley and Duff's players were handed a quick-fire reality check and unedifying “Welcome to League One” lesson at Home Park.

After smelling the coffee, Barnsley got their act together over time and stepped up to such an extent that they made the play-off final.

It was a season when Barnsley’s early conquerors Plymouth, Ipswich Town – now in the Premier League no less – Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United all excelled.

The new campaign at this level promises to be just as hard-fought.

Duff, whose side kick off with a hard opening day trip to a promotion candidate in Peterborough, said: “It’s going to be a tough league and the beauty of my experience at this level is my first game at Barnsley. We went down to Plymouth, who had been in League Two a couple of years before.

“Our players thought ‘we were in the Championship last year, we’ll wipe the floor with these.’ We got absolutely murdered. It was a brilliant wake-up call.

“It’s getting the players to understand that just because we have one of the biggest stadiums and will have some of the biggest crowds and some of our players are getting maybe paid more than some other players in the league, we don’t have a God-given right to win a game of football.

“You need to turn up mentally and physically prepared to give everything to win a game because it is not easy to win a game.”

Testament to the strength of the division in 22-23 was that two big clubs in Derby County and Portsmouth couldn’t even finish in the top six.

The Rams and Pompey escaped the shackles of League One last term, but it is still a division with a powerhouse look next season.

Relegated Birmingham City, backed by the financial muscle of American owners Knighthead, are promotion favourites. Another club with US investors in Wrexham – backed by Hollywood superstars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds – plainly don’t intend on just making up the numbers.

There are other serious-looking sides too, in the shape of Charlton Athletic, managed by a shrewd operator at this level in Nathan Jones, for one.

Then there are the likes of Bolton and Blackpool, not to mention the White Rose trio of Town, Rotherham United and Barnsley.

Duff continued: “I keep jumping in this league when it’s really tough. Of the three teams that have come down, Birmingham are obviously a huge club and there’s ourselves and Rotherham, who are always competitive in this league and Steve Evans will make them competitive.

“The three teams who have been automatically promoted from League Two are financially backed and everyone knows the Wrexham story.”

Millers chief Evans echoes Duff’s viewpoint about the strength of the third tier in 24-25.

He namechecked Birmingham – with a “£25m war chest' – as the division’s power brokers. But like Duff, he is also conscious of threats from others new to the level.

Evans, confident that the Millers will be in the mix after bringing in 11 signings so far – including one of the division’s most prolific strikers in Jonson Clarke-Harris – said: “It will be stronger next season. I base that on watching Wrexham and Stockport on a number of occasions and Mansfield.

“They have come up from League Two and would have done well in League One at the top end [last season].

“We have to make sure that with every penny we spend, we get value for money. A lot of my analysis has said we did not always have that last season.

“We need to go forward and there will always be players who don’t deliver what you think. But we need to make sure that we show our supporters we have some intentions of doing really well.”

The extent of the Millers' makeover represents a statement of intent. But the real stuff begins on August 10.

Rotherham’s final game of the month, a home game against Yorkshire counterparts Huddersfield at the AESSEAL New York Stadium on August 31, might provide a handy barometer regarding the White Rose duo’s early progress.

With Barnsley hoping to be in the top-six picture as well, it promises to be a fascinating season from a county perspective.