Huddersfield Town's Adam Hammill heads back to Barnsley today eager to build on a bright start to the season both by him and Town.
The 25-year-old wideman produced the most consistent form of a stop-start career playing under his current manager Mark Robins at Oakwell.
The Liverpool product once handed a five-year Anfield contract was plucked from Merseyside by the South Yorkshire outfit, initially on loan, in February 2009.
The move was made permanent that summer, and Hammill was established in the team by the time Robins took the helm in September of that year.
Things looked good for the former England Under 21 international when he joined Wolves, then of the Premier League, for £500,000 in January 2011.
But his appearances were limited by the presence of Republic of Ireland star Stephen Hunt, and he had loans at both Middlesbrough, in 2011-12, and Town last season.
Having showed flashes of his ability in 16 outings while at the John Smith’s, Hammill returned to Wolves before Robins’ arrival last February.
The previous November, he had been handed a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months after admitting a drunken assault on two paramedics outside a Liverpool nightclub .
Now he is desperate to repay the faith shown by Town, who this summer signed him on a three-year deal , with the club having the option of a further 12 months.
“The chairman and manager have stood by me, as have my teammates and the supporters, and I’m so grateful for that,” said Hammill.
Town head to basement side Barnsley seventh in the Championship and chasing a third successive league win and fourth in all competitions.
Hammill, a revelation at right wing-back in Robins’ new-look 3-5-2 formation, continued: “The gaffer’s instilled confidence and told us to go out and express ourselves.
“He knows we might sometimes make mistakes and give the ball away, but as long as we’re trying to do the right thing, he’ll accept that.
“All the lads want to get on the ball. It’s two touches, pass and move. The opposition hopefully won’t get near us.
“The philosophy is that they can’t do us any harm if we’ve got the ball. And if we lose it, we have to work very hard to get it back.”
Narrowly beaten down at Nottingham Forest on the opening day, Town claimed a hard-fought home draw with QPR, and are so far the only side to deny the Londoners all three points.
A 1-0 win at Millwall was followed by last Saturday’s 5-1 demolition of Bournemouth at the John Smith’s, when Hammill opened the scoring.
He finished it on Tuesday, when Town claimed a 3-2 comeback win over Charlton to clinch a Capital One Cup third-round trip to Premier League Hull next month.
Today’s derby is followed by an international break, and Hammill knows it’s important to go into the free fortnight on the back of another victory.
“We produced close to the perfect away performance at Millwall, and we need to do the same this afternoon,” he added.
“We’re trying to implement the style of football we want to play on other teams, and I think we’ve deserved our recent wins.
“We want more clean sheets, obviously, because I think we have goals in us, and once we get in front, it’s vital to shut up shop at the other end.
“We did that at Millwall, and maybe last season we wouldn’t have held out for the win in such a hostile kind of place.
“Against Bournemouth and Charlton, we created a lot of chances. James Vaughan is always capable of putting them away but we needed some of the other lads to chip in as well.
“I’m more than happy with my two goals, and we’ve also had Adam Clayton, Joel Lynch and Jonathan Hogg on the scoresheet in the last two games.
“The whole team goes over to celebrate every time we score, whoever gets the goal, and I think that shows how united we are.”
On his new role and Town’s fresh formation, Hammill explained: “It’s a work in progress, but I think things are becoming more familiar.
“I’ve always been happy when on the ball, and I’ve surprised myself with some of my tackles – I’ve put a couple of lads on their backsides, which has never happened before!
“I’m really enjoying the challenge and it’s helping boost my confidence. As well as defending, I’m getting upfield and providing assists – and that’s the next best thing to scoring a goal!”
