Reds chief Hill in positive frame of mind

KEITH HILL has railed against the ‘glass half-empty’ detractors he feels are continually portraying Barnsley in a negative light.

The Reds boss insists his side – while currently residing in 19th place in the Championship – are punching well above their weight in comparison to a host of better-financed rivals, even more so given their small playing budget and crippling injury crisis which has bedevilled them in the early months of the 2012-13 campaign.

Given that, Hill insists that lingering criticism, particularly from some sections of the press, is wholly disrespectful and feels it is something that similarly ‘unfashionable’ Championship and Premiership sides do not receive.

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Hill, whose Tykes side head east for today’s derby at the KC Stadium on the back of a 4-1 home reverse at the hands of Nottingham Forest, said: “It seems we are trying to create negatives all the time.

“No matter what happens, some never seem to look at the positives, but negatives. People cannot really see the good of what we are trying to do at this football club.

“There was so much negativity to the players we have recruited. But now we are seeing good performances and recognition for the players we have recruited, such as Scott Golbourne, David Perkins, Stephen Dawson and Jim McNulty.

“I am not a negative person. There always seems to be a divide trying to be created between the manager, players and his supporters. It has been at this football club a long time, before I came here. And it needs to be changed.

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“I do not witness the same sort of negativity at Wigan, for example.

“There is lots of positivity around Wigan and there still is at the likes of Southampton, Reading and Peterborough. But at Barnsley, for some reason, it seems some are trying to create an environment which is negative and against the players and manager and trying to split and divide all the time. And it becomes really irritating.”

Injury-wise, light is appearing at the end of the tunnel, with the likes of Jim O’Brien, Toni Silva and Mido, who have not kicked a competitive ball in anger this term, back in training.