Sheffield Wednesday’s ‘brilliant’ Hillsborough praised by Barnsley boss – Owls recruitment praised

The Owls play host to the Tykes in the first South Yorkshire derby of the season on Saturday afternoon, and the opposition boss heaped praise on the venue as a big crowd gets ready to descend on S6.

Duff says that it’s not a game that will need much motivation, and called for maximum effort from his troops – also adding that it’s the sort of game players play the game for.

"Yeah, nice easy one!" he joked ahead of the game. “A big team, signed a lot of players. A big club, the expectancy will be to get out of the league. A really difficult game.

"You shouldn't need to get motivated to play in front of 25,000 people. It's a brilliant place to go and play football.

"If you need motivating for these sorts of games then you're in the wrong game. This is what players want, they want to play in big games, they want to play in big stadiums. It doesn't always guarantee you a good performance, but it shouldn't be through lack of effort."

Meanwhile, the Tykes’ midfielder, Luke Thomas, made note of Wednesday’s impressive transfer window, saying, “They've brought some very good players in, they've got a very good team and made a very good start as well. We know that when we go there it's going to be a very tough game.

"It's definitely bragging rights for the fans and the players as well."

Wednesday and Barnsley face off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

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