Barnsley: ‘I always knew the side here was good’ says Kenny Dougall

Dougall’s 29 appearances helped catapult Daniel Stendel’s side straight back into the Championship before a broken leg ended his season prematurely.

Prior to his season-ending injury the Australian was a key cog in the Reds midfield alongside Alex Mowatt.And, despite his international aspirations, which saw him involved in a Socceroos training camp before Christmas, Dougall knew the club had a chance of promotion as soon as he joined.

“When I came here, this was the plan and to achieve promotion with the lads is fantastic,” he told The Star.

“I always knew that the side here was good. I follow a lot of football, but it surprised me a little bit that some of the weaker teams in League One were good.”Once he overcomes his broken leg, he is looking forward to sinking his teeth into some Championship action.

“It’s a fantastic league with some top players in it,” he continued. “It’s full of international players and I’m really looking forward to testing myself at that level.

“I can’t really narrow it down to one team who I’m looking forward to playing. “Obviously there are some local derbies but I’m just looking forward to playing against all of the teams which are full of quality.”The Tykes have had to overcome plenty of adversity this season, with the departure of assistant head coach Andreas Winkler, along with injuries and suspended key players, not to mention Stendel allegedly being assaulted by Fleetwood boss Joey Barton.

But the former Sparta Rotterdam midfielder wasn’t surprised at the squad’s ability to overcome so many obstacles.

“This is a quality squad, so I’m not surprised,” he said. “We knew if someone dropped out that someone else could come in and we’d be absolutely fine.

“It turned out that was the case. It has been disappointing at times with myself and Kieffer (Moore) being out injured but anyone who has come in managed to get into that flow and we were winning matches.

“I think that has shown all year with our consistency.”

The Reds' promotion celebrations continued this week with a open-top bus parade, which saw hundreds of fans line the streets