Ritchie - From Today's Barnsley Star

ritchie wary of Town ace
BARNSLEY'S clash with Huddersfield pits Andy Ritchie against a striker he has admired for years.

The Reds boss told today how he tried to land David Graham for the Reds before he joined Town on loan from Sheffield Wednesday.
Ritchie also tracked the forward when he was at Torquay and Wigan.
But the Oakwell chief was unable to prise Graham out of Hillsborough, and now must make plans to shackle the man who has scored six goals in nine games since his January loan switch.
"He's a quality player," said Ritchie. "I liked him when he was at Torquay, where he scored a lot of goals, and thought then that he might move to a higher division, which happened when he went to Wigan.
"I was chasing him when he was at Wigan, but they wouldn't let him out.
"When he wasn't getting in the Wednesday team I asked about him a couple of times but didn't get any encouragement.
" Then all of a sudden he had gone to Huddersfield. These things happen; sometimes you just have to ring at the right time."
But Ritchie's main focus tomorrow will be on maintaining his own team's form and keeping alive their chances of automatic promotion.
He accepts that defeat tomorrow could end scupper that aim.
"I suppose it might put it beyond us, depending on what the other results are," he conceded.
Huddersfield are expecting an 18,000-plus crowd.
Manager Peter Jackson said: Our crowds home and away have been excellent and we need a hot atmosphere."
"We've gone second in the attendance table behind Forest this season, which is a credit to our supporters ."
Meanwhile, Paul Sturrock is challenging his Wednesday team to show that they can go unbeaten until the end of the season.
The Owls boss was set to tell his squad today that he believes they are capable of sealing safety in this emphatic manner over the last six matches.
Wednesday, unbeaten in their last three games, also seek their third win in a row when they face Burnley tomorrow on what could be a crunch weekend in the relegation battle..
"We've done three in a row before; I'd like to think we'll be undefeated between now and the end of the season. I'll be mooting that to the players," said Sturrock.
"I think we're capable of it; our performances prove that."
"Since Cardiff (the club's last defeat), we've been on the up," he said.
"Players have blossomed and grown. If we keep blossoming and growing, I'm confident we can remain unbeaten."

31 March 2006
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