The only blip in the month came in the Donny Debacle in the LDV, which isn’t counted when naming a Manager of The Month.
Chris Kamara said: “ Barnsley have enjoyed a tremendous month in League One. Their unbeaten run has really pushed them up the league and Andy will be hoping his side can build on this month’s success and cement their place in the top six”
This is the second time Ritchie has received the Manager of the Month award since becoming Reds boss. He received it in his first month (March) after again winning 3 and drawing 2.
Unfortunately The Reds endured a miserable April failing to win a single game and receiving a 5-0 hammering at Port Vale.
Lets hope November doesn’t go the same way…
Meanwhile injured skipper Paul Reid and Stephen McPhail have stated that if The Reds fail to beat League Two Darlington in the FA Cup First Round tomorrow they’ll have nobody to blame but themselves.
Reid who is set to return in the reserves this month told the Official Site: “ The FA Cup can make or break your season to be honest. Whatever your league form is like it can really set you up or knock you down. Paul Hayes and Richard Kell played against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and I lined up against Manchester United while I was at Northampton and those are the game everyone wants to play in.
We have to get through Saturday’s game anyway we can and make sure we are in the hat. Darlington are a good team and we won’t be taking anything lightly No disrespect to Darlington but we expect to go out there and win every game at Oakwell. That is the standard we set ourselves and the pressure will on us to go out there and progress”
McPhail meanwhile stated: “ There is no better cup competition in the world really and it is a big game against Darlington. They know they will be coming to Oakwell as underdogs and we have to match their effort before we can play our football. We are expected to win this game. Expectation like that always makes things that little bit tougher- you can see that with Chelsea at the moment. We are expected to beat Darlington and if we do not then we cannot have anyone to blame but ourselves. We have to win this game and just get into the hat. This is a massive incentive and we want to go as far as we can”
The omens though don’t look too good. The Reds have not won an FA Cup game since beating Bristol City 2-1 in a First Round Replay in 2003/2004 whilst not reaching the Third Round since 2001/2002 when they entered at that stage and were subsequently eliminated by Blackburn Rovers
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