NEW KEEPER NEEDED

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.

BARNSLEY SNAP UP MIDO

Barnsley has secured the signing of former Tottenham and Middlesbrough striker Mido on a free transfer. The Egyptian international has been with his hometown club Zamalek in his current spell, but it is thought that he has had a wage dispute with the club. As a result, he is close to securing the move back to England in the form of Championship club Barnsley. The 29-year-old is extremely popular in England having represented the likes of Tottenham and Middlesbrough in the Premier league. However, he is also equally fond of creating a problem within the team. If Barnsley secure the signing of Mido, then it would be the second signing in less than a week.

They have recently completed the signing of former Chelsea midfielder Jacob Mellis, who was released by the European Champions, after the training ground incident that saw him light up a smoke grenade. He has recently signed a new two-year deal with the club after having been training with them in the last few weeks. Mido has the experience of playing in some of the top clubs in Europe including the likes of Roma and Marseille. Barnsley will be hoping that this experience will be useful for them when it comes to promotion from the Championship.

The club also recently confirmed that winger Jim O’Brien has signed a new contract with the club. The winger has signed a two-year deal with the Championship club. “I’m delighted I’ve signed. I’ve had the deal agreed for a long time, but I’ve been on holiday and my agent is in Glasgow so the paperwork has been going back and forth until I got back. I’m settled here at Barnsley and I love playing for the club. I’m happy here, I like Yorkshire and the fans have really taken to me,” said Jim O’Brien.