Mansfield Town v Barnsley FC: It will be 'emotional' - Conor Hourihane on the start of his new Reds adventure

Fast forward some 218 days and the Irishman will be afforded another milestone in his notable career in football when he steps out - with the Stags again providing the opposition.

Having arrived initially as player-coach, ex-Reds captain Hourihane came on from the bench in that aforesaid game with Mansfield Town, a 2-1 reverse in front of a near 15,000 crowd at Oakwell.

It proved to be his penultimate appearance for the club, having focused virtually all his energies on coaching since his return last summer. The 34-year-old retired in December.

Today will be a big occasion for the Corkonian, who leads Barnsley for the first time following the decision to place him in interim charge for the final 10 matches of the 2024-25 campaign. He replaces Darrell Clarke, who was axed on Wednesday.

While Davis Keillor-Dunn makes his first return to Field Mill today following his move at the end of the summer deadline, Mansfield-born Clarke, a former Stags player, won’t be around on reunion day.

It will be Hourihane’s day instead.

He said: "I have got that connection with fans and previous success here and it was one of the reasons I came back.

"Hopefully, I will have the backing of the fans and it will be an emotional time at three (seeing) the away end, they will bring energy.

"I will be really emotional and it’s something I am really looking forward to. I know I will have everyone's backing in the building, which will be great.”

On what those Reds supporters in the away end can expect, he added: "I want to see front foot, energetic football.

"I think Yorkshire and Barnsley people demand that. It’s a hard-working town and you have to represent our town and area in the right way.

"They want to see people running hard and with intensity and pressing, getting in faces. We have got to replicate that.”

Meanwhile, captain Luca Connell has paid a debt of gratitude to Clarke - and revealed what he said to him in a phone conversation following his Oakwell sacking.

The midfielder spoke to Clarke following his axing on Wednesday, with the Liverpudlian forging a bond with the 47-year-old, who gave him the captain’s armband ahead of the start of the season following the close-season departure of Jordan Williams. Connell said: "I spoke to the gaffer and said: ‘thank you for putting your trust in me and giving me the captaincy and obviously playing me a lot this season.

"It is never nice to see anybody go and he was highly-rated around Barnsley and it is just sad to see how it ended.

"One thing the gaffer was (as a person) was fair and he said to us that not everything goes to plan and it is not always going in the right direction, but just make sure you try your best and push for the last 10 games and see where it can take you.”