Barnsley: Team over self for driven Cauley Woodrow

You could be forgiven for thinking Cauley Woodrow would have set his sights on finishing as Barnsley's top-scorer this season following the injury to Kieffer Moore.

But the former Fulham striker is a team player, insisting winning games is more important to him than any personal milestones.

Woodrow, a summer signing from the Cottagers, took time to make his mark at Oakwell due to a frustrating injury.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Yet he did not take long to impress, forming a formidable partnership with Moore as Barnsley flew into automatic-promotion contention.

Moore found the net 16 times in League One this term, five more than Woodrow so far, but will not feature in the promotion run-in after a head injury ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

Moore's absence has left Woodrow to take on extra responsibility, but the 24-year-old is adamant he is not trying to out-do his strike partner.

"We didn't have a rivalry to be fair, we always used to shake hands and tell each other to score," he told the Star.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We never had any sort of rivalry, we were just happy for each other to score and win, that was the main thing.

"It was good playing with him, now I am not trying to beat his goal tally, as long as we win I am not bothered."

Moore sustained his injury when colliding with Gabriel Zakuani during the latter stages of the Reds' 4-1 win at Gillingham on February 9.

Since then, Barnsley are unbeaten in seven matches but they have struggled to find the net regularly, drawing 0-0 four times.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Tykes are still second in the table, two points above Sunderland who have a game in hand, and Woodrow wants to win promotion for Moore.

"As soon as I came to the club I was friendly with him," he said.

"It was very sad, a big miss, but we can't do anything about it now. He's a big miss, but we can't do anything about it now.

"Kieffer is out for a long time, we want to try and win for him because he can't take part in the rest of the season.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We want to get the wins for him and for the lads that aren't involved."

Woodrow has taken on a different role, operating as a lone striker most games, and scored three times without Moore so far.

"It has changed a little bit in terms of now I am playing on my own," he added.

"But in terms of how I want to play and how the team want to play I don't think it has changed massively.

"It is still important for the team to focus on what the task in hand is and for myself, just keep scoring, keep assisting."

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.