BREAKING NEWS: Manager reacts as Barnsley, hold talks to sign £90 million star on £180k-a-week deal.....

Disappointment can fuel Yorkshire clubs in season where all should aim high

Few things drive a professional sportsperson on more than defeat and disappointment. Yorkshire’s Football League clubs should have plenty of fuel for the fire this season.With no Premier League representation for the first time since 2016, there are 11 of them in 2023-24, and all but Sheffield Wednesday and Harrogate Town kick off licking their wounds.

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But this weekend is the first of a new campaign and most if not all will have high hopes of competing for promotion.

Wednesday finished last season wonderfully – in play-off form from December – but giving up a huge headstart meant success for them was avoiding relegation. Now with possibly the best manager in the division – and arguably the likes of Marcelo Bielsa, Chris Wilder and David Wagner showed that to be more useful in the Championship than the best players – Danny Rohl has been backed to kick on.

BARNSLEY head coach Darrell Clarke has confirmed that midfielder Callum Styles was not involved in the Reds’ League One opener against Mansfield Town because he was not in the right frame of mind to play – amid interest from rival clubs.

This Week's Opposition: Barnsley - Express FM

For the third successive summer, Styles’ future remains uncertain, with West Brom seeing a bid rejected for him last week and other clubs being currently interested.

Clarke, whose side lost out 2-1 to his hometown club, said: “Callum is having a lot of interest at the minute and a few clubs are coming in for him

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“Callum has not been a problem since I have been in the building. I understand it, but if it’s not right for the football club, he won’t be going anywhere. There’s quire a bit of interest in him at the minute.”

Clarke’s side endured a nightmare start at Oakwell against the Stags in the Nottinghamshire outfit’s first game at this level in over two decades.

A brilliant opener from Stephen Quinn put Nigel Clough’s side in front and Lee Gregory soon added to their advantage inside the opening 20 minutes.