Season starts on Saturday claims defender - exclusive

Last updated : 09 October 2006 By Andy Parsons

The right-back has been disappointed with recent performances and results and now knows that the visit of The Tykes is the perfect place to start a winning streak.

Barnsley games are usually feisty affairs and there's little doubt Saturday's clash will be any different - although the American defender knows that nothing less than three points will do.

He told Footymad: "There's no doubt about it that even at this stage of the season, this is a must-win game. We have to look forward to a good crowd and get the three points to start our season off. We have played now a fifth of the season and we have to start getting results on the board."

Wednesday's season has been decimated with injury problems but now the former Arsenal player is happy the likes of Steve MacLean, Drew Talbot, Yoann Folly and Steve Adams are now pushing for first-team places.

He added: "We're not going to hit the panic button just quite yet because we are only in October but I have said it before, when you look at the injuries we had at the start of the season, you are chasing things from an early stage.

"But seeing the boys come back, I think so far they are doing extremely well and after this two-week break, we can work on lots of things because we have a really good chance against Barnsley to start our season."