Football
Barrow Using Last Season's Pain as Fuel for Promotion Push, Says Dean Campbell
Barrow’s Dean Campbell reveals how last season's heartbreak is fueling their promotion push under new manager Stephen Clemence. Discover how the team is using past pain as motivation.
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Barrow are using last season’s heartache as the driving force behind their bid for promotion, according to Dean Campbell.
The Bluebirds agonisingly missed out on the League Two play-offs on the final day last season under Pete Wild.
Turning Heartache into Motivation
The wheels well and truly fell off during the run-in as two points from a possible 21 saw them finish outside of the coveted top seven.
And that spelled the end of Wild’s tenure at Holker Street as they club decided they wanted a fresh start following a “post-season review”.
Scottish midfielder Campbell, who missed just one league game last season, told SportsBoom.com: “We’ve got to use the disappointment of that to put it right this season.”
“There’s a lot of motivation this season. We were hurting at the time, but it’s a new season with the same goals.”
“It was a tough one last season, but we know what it takes to be up there.”
“We got off to a great start in the first half of the season, but didn’t show good enough form at the end to get over the line.”
It was a very difficult end to the season for us, but we have a strong belief in our dressing room in what we want to achieve.
Dean Campbell
A Fresh Start Under Clemence
But Stephen Clemence has got the Cumbrian club firing on all cylinders this term with just one defeat from their first seven league outings.
Former Tottenham, Birmingham, and Leicester midfielder Clemence returns to Gillingham, where he was sacked last season, for a huge top-of-the-table clash on Saturday.
Clemence knows exactly what it takes to get promoted having been named Player of the Year as Birmingham went up to the Premier League in 2007.
“He’s been fantastic since coming in,” added Campbell.
“He’s spreading confidence among everyone. I really love playing for him, he builds me up every day and makes me confident as a player.”
“As a midfielder myself, he’s been great at passing on information to make me better as a player.”
“He’s been good. He’s got us front-footed, and it’s been rewarded with some good wins.”
“We’re in a good place right now and looking forward to continuing this good run that we’re on and the feeling around the town.”
He played at a high level and knows what it takes to get there, the standards required and he’s driving those standards.
Dean Campbell
Ready for the Top of the Table Clash
Barrow have impressed so far during the current campaign with a derby-day defeat at Carlisle the only blot on their copy book so far.
They put four past Port Vale, who were relegated from League One last term, and have not conceded more than one goal in a league game.
“It’s been a very positive start to the season,” reflected Campbell.
“We’ve scored some goals, which is always a good sign. We’ve been solid defensively in the league as well so everything you could ask for, we’ve achieved.”
“We’re looking to continue our good form on Saturday in what is an important game for us.”
“The league is our bread and butter, and we want to achieve good things in the league this year.”
“We want to keep building that momentum.”
Shane is a respected journalist who has covered a range of sports for a number of years.