TOBY Sibbick has revealed the bizarre circumstances which led to his exit from Barnsley but says he still has affection for the club he is due to return to with Wigan Athletic this weekend.

The defender, now 25, joined the Reds in the summer of 2019 and left in January 2022 having made 56 appearances.

Sibbick told the Chronicle: “I am looking forward to coming back. I had mixed emotions there – really good highs and some lows as well. But I only have good things to say about Barnsley as a club.

“It will be nice to see some familiar faces. I think Josh Benson is the only player I played with who is still there, and Davvers (Martin Devaney) is a coach. I know some other staff as well.

“There are good people there.”

After reaching the Championship play-offs in the summer of 2021, the 2021/22 season was much less successful for Barnsley – who would finish last – and Sibbick.

Despite him scoring his only goal for the club on the opening day at Cardiff City, and being a regular under Markus Schopp, he did not play under the next head coach Poya Asbaghi and was sold to Hearts in the January transfer window. Asbaghi suggested that Sibbick did not have ‘fighting spirit’ and questioned if he was ‘giving 100 per cent.’

Sibbick said: “A couple of sessions in (to Asbaghi’s spell), we just had an argument over nothing and I got frozen out. In November, they said I could talk to other clubs and they gave me all of December off.

“I was training on my own then, in January, I came back into the club because I knew that would be better for my fitness. I had the move lined up at the end of the window then the Barnsley manager had Covid but his assistant (Ferran Sibila) came up to me and said ‘are you sure you want to go because you’re in good shape and could get back into the team?’

“I told him that, after the way they treated me, there was nothing they could do to get me to play for them.

“But, for Barnsley as a club, I don’t have anything bad to say about them.”

Sibbick joined the club as a 20-year-old from AFC Wimbledon. Having been part of an extremely young back four which struggled in the Championship in his first season, he was loaned out to Hearts, under ex Oakwell boss Daniel Stendel while Barnsley stayed up on the final day, and the Reds’ then sister club Oostende where he did not play.

“Every player, in their career, won’t have a smooth ride all the time.

“Being so young, I moved away from home and was out of my comfort zone.

“That’s where you learn about yourself. Maybe it took me longer than some others but I got there and I grew a lot as a person.

“We made a lot of signings, and most of us didn’t have Championship experience. It was a very young team like the one I am in now at Wigan. We were playing against some massive teams in the Championship and sometimes you can be fazed when you don’t have many experienced players in the team.

“With a few older heads, the team could have stayed up a lot more easily.”

Sibbick returned to Oakwell in January 2021 and – with football still behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic – played regularly in the Reds’ run to the Championship play-off semi-final under Valerien Ismael.

Barnsley eventually just fell short of a miraculous promotion to the Premier League, losing to Swansea City over two legs with Sibbick starting both.

“Val just had a presence about him. Whenever he spoke about a game you just wanted to go straight out and play it. He was a scary figure but, at the same time, he would fill you with confidence.

“We were probably tipped to go down but we had certain way of playing that all the players bought into.

“We just fell short. There are definitely times when I look back and think: ‘what if?’ We were so close to the Premier League. But we can’t change it, we just have to be proud of what we achieved.

“Swansea were good and we didn’t beat them that season.”

After a season and a half in Edinburgh with Hearts, Sibbick returned south of the border for this season to sign for Wigan who are currently just a point above the relegation zone.

He has only started two league games, including the most recent one.

“I arrived out of shape because I had been training with the B team at Hearts. I wasn’t in the plans there which I had no problem with. I’ve just been getting up to speed.

“As a team, we have individual brilliance. We’re very young but have a lot of quality. It reminds me of some times at Barnsley, we are in games but let ourselves down with a lack of concentration or fine margins.

“Over time it will click but needs it to happen sooner rather than later – hopefully on Saturday at Barnsley.”

Sibbick, who has been operating at right-back but can also play as a centre-back, could face his former Hearts team-mate Stephen Humphrys who has been on fine form for Barnsley.

“I know Humphs really well. I know all about his qualities. He’s very physical, fast, direct and both-footed.

“He’s a top guy and very funny.

“It will be good to see him but, if we come up against each other, obviously I will be looking to keep him quiet.”