Cheltenham Town will host sixth in the table Barnsley tomorrow at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium in League One.
Cheltenham Town manager Elliott Wade said following their win against Cambridge on Tuesday “There’s a good vibe around the place. There’s a good atmosphere, but I think it’s always a slightly different vibe off the back of the win and especially because the effort and the performances and the commitment have been so good.”
“I thought the performance was excellent in lots and lots of different ways. Obviously, some of our play was really good. You saw that, that probably culminated in the second goal, but we had to be resilient.
“We had to suffer with an unjust setback, and so on lots of levels a really good performance, but that’s boxed up now, parked up and we roll onto tomorrow.”
Wade’s predecessor Michael Duff, who led the Robins to League One promotion and is widely regarded as one of the best to manage the Gloucestershire based side, is the new manager of Barnsley.
When asked about whether it will be strange to face Duff, who Wade used to work under, the Robins manager insisted “It won’t be particularly strange for me or us. He’s a little bit lively on the touchline, Duffo, but it’s usually Russ’ (Milton) job to calm him down, so if he gets too lively we’ll send Russ over to pat him on the arm again!”
Duff is in his first season in charge of Barnsley, and has already taken one win against his former club this season with a 1-0 win at home.
Barnsley have the second best defence in the league, with Wade crediting Duff by saying “He has done a good job, a really good job. We talk a lot and I am probably privy to a lot of the challenges that he’s faced.
“People may look at Barnsley being in that position and just assume that it was to be expected, but they had no given right to be there and he’s gone in and taken over a club in a lot of flux, a lot of stuff to sort out and realign the ship and he’s done a really good job.”
“They are a good side, they are resilient, tough to beat, big, physical and they are on a decent run of form. It’ll be a good game and one we are relishing”
Managers generally have a particular style of play that they enjoy using, with Wade believing that there are some similarities tactically between his former Cheltenham side and his current Barnsley team.
“The way the back five work and the midfield three press. One or two of their patterns with the ball. Michael is bright enough that he will adapt it and evolve it. We’ve done the same, so there has probably been a little bit of divergence between the two,” Wade said.
“We played each other second game of the season and it was probably two very similar teams. There has been a little bit of a divergence since then. He will take on new ideas and adapt.”
