JON RUSSELL is looking forward to coming up against his former club Huddersfield Town when they visit Oakwell on Saturday.
The midfielder spent 18 months with the Terriers, playing 30 games including in a Championship play-off final loss in 2022, before joining Barnsley the following January.
The Reds have a point from their last five games and will look to reignite their play-off push in the all-Yorkshire meeting.
Russell told the Chronicle: “I am excited to play them and show them what I can do.
“They are a great club. My time there is in the past and we just need to win.
“We need to pull our socks up and start getting results. I believe they will come.
“We don’t want the losing results to creep in.
“We need to get our confidence back and one game can change that.
“We’re just waiting for that.”
Since the last league meeting with Huddersfield in November, after which head coach Darrell Clarke made changes to his starting 11, Russell has started 19 of the last 20 league games.
The Jamaica international only missed last month’s loss to Stevenage during a busy week when the midfield was rotated heavily.
He had previously been in and out of the starting 11 during his Barnsley career and had not started any of the first ten league games under Clarke.
“I hope I have nailed that position down.
“I am just trying to be effective when I am on the pitch.
“I have some good stats.
“I am happy to be playing all the time.”
Barnsley lost 2-1 at Stockport County on Saturday, going 2-0 down at half-time before Russell set up Davis Keillor-Dunn to pull one back late on.
“I don’t think we started great, not as good as other games. We kept grinding.
“We shouldn’t have let the two goals in. If we played like we did in the second half, it would have been different game.”
Clarke admitted he got the formation wrong as he switched from 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 diamond.
Russell said: “It could have a part to play, a new style which not everyone was familiar with.
“But it’s not just that, it’s how we played.
“We didn’t do the basics right – seconds balls, tackles.
“You can’t teach that.”
Russell started the game at the tip of the midfield diamond, behind the strikers. He said: “It’s different to what I am used to at Barnsley but I have played it in the past.
“In the second half I moved back to the box to box position and got an assist.
“It doesn’t matter where I play, I just try to play the same.”
Russell saw two big headed chances saved at 2-0 down.
He said: “I was close. One of the them was a good save and the other was to the ‘keeper and I should have done better. But it was good positioning.”
