Barnsley: Hedges felt helpless during relegation run-in

Winger Hedges started the season brightly with three goals in the first four games of the season.

However, an injury kept him out around Christmas and after the New Year he failed to nail down a spot in the side adding just six more sporadic appearances as the Reds went down on the final day of the campaign.

And he said: “It’s never nice to be relegated but especially when you are left out of the team and don’t have a chance to make an impact on the team. “It was frustrating, I felt I’d started really well but couldn’t tie a place down.

“I was injured around Christmas so missed a lot of games in a short period, then the new manager came in and I never really got back in the side.

“The last few games were probably some of the toughest times I have had because I just wasn’t involved at all at such an important time for the club.”

Meanwhile, former Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom could land a Yorkshire managerial treble.

The former defender is the favourite to fill the vacant Bradford City job after being sacked by Leeds United last week.

Heckingbottom, who played for the Bantams during his career and is the current frontrunner for the job, was told of his Elland Road departure whilst on holiday with his family.

The 40-year-old left Oakwell in unceremonious circumstances to join the club’s bitter Yorkshire rivals last term, with the Reds in the midst of trying to secure their Championship status.

His improved contract had only been announced three days earlier and he had just overseen a January transfer window where he added five players.

Despite the fall out, which included Heckingbottom being disappointed at the way the club handled his departure, he has still been linked with an unlikely return to his boyhood club.