Huddersfield Town keeper Lee Nicholls' message to Barnsley loanee Owen Goodman after 'hostile' reception

Those who line up between the posts look out for each other as Nicholls did at the final whistle of last weekend's League One derby against Barnsley, when he made a beeline for Owen Goodman.

The Crystal Palace keeper, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Town, was in the opposing goal at the Accu Stadium after switching to the Reds in January.

As with the reverse fixture at Oakwell when he was then representing Huddersfield, Goodman had a difficult derby day, compounded by receiving lengthy second-half treatment after falling heavily before eventually carrying on.

There were words of wisdom and encouragement afterwards from Nicholls, who was battling it out with him for first-team duties in the opening months of the season.

Nicholls, pictured, said: “I spoke to Owen after it (the game).

“He was down with his neck (injury earlier). It was just making sure he was okay; I thought Owen did okay and did well, especially for being such a young keeper and coming here with a hostile crowd who were on his back a little bit.

“It was just sort of 'keep going'. He's had a year he would probably not have thought of.

“But I think in his development and in a few years, he will look back and have learnt more from this year than he probably would have last year after winning promotion (with Wimbledon).

“He's got qualities and I think he's going to be a really good goalkeeper. I wish him all the best; he's a really good lad.

“I think Owen knows exactly what I think of him.”

Sixth-placed Town, who currently occupy the final play-off spot, head into Saturday's game at Wigan with a four-point buffer over the chasing pack, albeit having played more games.

For his part, head coach Liam Manning is just focusing on what he can control.

He added: “The run we went on at the start, with the three wins, obviously kind of consolidated sixth for a little bit. Then a couple of results didn't favour us and we're probably back to where we were at the start – and the (Barnsley) win helps us.

“There's so many swings and things that will change in the run-in and it always does.”