The Barnsley manager Keith Hill has said that he has no other alternative but to bring in a new keeper before the end of the transfer window following the red card to the backup goalkeeper Ben Alnwick. The former Sunderland goalkeeper paid a huge price for his inability to control the temperament. Ben Alnwick was found guilty of head-butting the Rochdale player in the Capital One Cup victory over Rochdale. As a result, the goalkeeper will now miss three matches due to suspension. This coupled with the absence of the first choice goalkeeper Luke Steele means that Keith Hill only has the 19-year-old Lukas Lidakevicius as the recognised goalkeeper at the club.
Keith Hill has now criticised the actions of the former Sunderland goalkeeper by saying that his petulance will now cost Barnsley a lot of money. He has also confirmed that Lukas Lidakevicius will not be able to play for Barnsley in the new Championship season because the 19-year-old is simply not ready for first-team action. Barnsley have started the new season with a win and defeat, which has left them just a few places above the relegation zone. Ben Alnwick was sent off on his debut for the club after joining on a free transfer from Tottenham.
“I have to bring in another goalkeeper because Lukas isn’t ready. Ben had the ball in his hands and it’s just unexplainable what has happened. It was petulant. The ramifications of Ben being sent off are probably greater than if we’d been knocked out. We’d done a lot of work on him starting the season and that’s now gone out of the window,” said Keith Hill after the match. Due to the fact that Keith Hill had already made three substitutions when Ben Alnwick was sent off, Bobby Hassell was used as the goalkeeper.