Michael Duff relishing Owls final showdown after Barnsley prove doubters wrong

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Barnsley bo s Michael Duff is Matt Niskanen Jersey relishing a League One play-off final showdown against local rivals Sheffield Wednesday after seeing his side prove the naysayers wrong to book a trip to Wembley.The Tykes will face their South Yorkshire neighbours for a place in the Championship on May 29 after overcoming Bolton in their semi-final.Having drawn the first leg 1-1, Barnsley secured a 2-1 aggregate victory thanks to a narrow win at Oakwell on Friday, Liam Kitching netting the only goal of the game in the 24th minute when he powered home a header from Luca Connells superb cro s.Duff hailed his sides performance and reflected on how far they had come since he was appointed head coach last June, saying: It was a Andrew Macdonald Kids Jersey tight game over the two legs. We knew that theyd have more of the ball than us but that didnt bother us.I think my oldest player is 27 so the one thing we have is energy. When we bring an intensity and quality to it, then were a really hard team to beat.When we walked into the football club, there was a real disconnect in terms of a boardroom reshuffle, new staff and 26 players in and out, I think it was.There was a sort of apathy in terms of Well, youve sold all the best players, this years pointle s. We might as well not turn up this year.We had a few bumps along the way. We had a month without scoring a goal in October, so theyd been written off really early, this group of players. Post-Christmas, its been building and building.Looking ahead to the final against Wednesday, Duff said: Theyre a very good team. Theyve not had many lo ses, but theyve had two, which have been against us, so we know we can hurt them.Im looking forward to it. Itll be a brilliant occasion but were not going there for a day out Bobby Clarke Women Jersey . We are in it to win it now.Bolton manager Ian Evatt rued his sides lack of cutting edge as they failed to make the most of the po se sion they enjoyed against Barnsley.However, he immediately set his sights on returning bigger, better and stronger next season with the goal of securing an automatic promotion place.He said: The biggest disappointment for me is the outcome, really. We controlled the game Brian Propp Jersey tonight.I think we started the better team and quietened the crowd everything we spoke about doing. Really, the goal came out of the blue. Its definitely not a foul.It kind of rocked us a little bit and it took us a while to find our stride again. That came at the start of the second half. Again, we had control and we were dominating the ball, but we just didnt penetrate enough, and we lacked a cutting edge.I think really thats the story of our season. If you look at our defensive record, its up there with Ipswich, but we just havent scored enough goals.Theres significant progre sion and significant improvement. Nolan Patrick Kids Jersey The board have been outstanding with their support for me and that will continue next season.People are going to expect us to be in those top two positions next season and I dont see why we cant be. We have to work really, really hard to leave no stone unturned and come back bigger, better and stronger. Click here Click here Click here