MARK Beevers would love nothing better than to put one over on the club that TWICE broke his heart as a young boy.

Barnsley-born-and-bred, the Wanderers defender used to watch the Tykes from Oakwell’s stands in their Premier League heyday.

But dreams of playing for his hometown club were dashed on two separate occasions before he was finally fixed up at Sheffield Wednesday.

Disappointment has stuck with the 28-year-old for the last couple of decades, just as it has with his family, but the big centre-half was happy to report there was a happy end to his story.

“I was playing for a Sunday League club called Barugh Boys at about Under-eights and had a trial at Barnsley, and for whatever reason they said I wasn’t going to get signed on,” Beevers told The Bolton News.

“A year or two after that I went down there again and my dad was told they were interested. They said they’d send us a letter to say whether they would sign me or not. We never heard back from them.

“I want to name him as well, to be honest, I think his name was Dave Hancock, who was the academy director at the time. He looked my dad in the eye at the time and said to expect something in the post.

“It didn’t matter in the end because I went down to Sheffield Wednesday and it worked out well for me there from about 13 years old

“I’ve been down since and I don’t think he’s there anymore. But my dad has always said if he ever bumps into him, he’d ask him in the nicest possible way what happened.

“Barnsley being my hometown, it stuck in my memory, and my parents’ memory as well.”

The South Yorkshire club spent one season in the Premier League, 20 years ago, but flirted with administration after relegation and dropped down as far as League One.

Paul Heckingbottom has instigated a revival, however, taking the Tykes to the verge of the play-offs last season with a young and sprightly squad.

“When my dad used to take me down there it was the likes of Neil Redfearn, Ashley Ward, Bruce Dyer days – I saw them a few times in the Premier League,” he said. “I saw them in the play-off final against Ipswich as well when they got beat 4-2.

“When I went down to Wednesday we started getting free tickets to go there instead and I wouldn’t say we converted but it was somewhere else to go.

“It’s still my hometown club, though.”

Beevers will be without his regular defensive partner in crime, David Wheater, tomorrow, but envisages no problem playing alongside West Ham loanee Reece Burke.

“It’s no problem whatsoever,” he said. “I have played with Burkey a few times in a three, not as a centre-half partner, but the lads have been here long enough to know how we play.

“He knows what I’m good at and vice-versa, there’s no reason why he can’t slot in and get the clean sheet we’re always after.”

Beevers says there is a determination within Phil Parkinson’s squad to tighten up after last weekend’s disappointing display at Wolves.

“It was tough to take,” he said. “When a scoreline gets to five it’s borderline humiliating.

“But I think throughout the season you’ll get a couple of them, especially when you come up against opposition like Wolves.

“I don’t want that to sound like an excuse – you should never concede five in any game – but in my experience there is always the odd bad performance which comes out of the blue. It’s down to how you put it right.

“The next chance is Barnsley on Saturday and I want that clean sheet, which gives us the best possible chance of winning the game. Three points would be very nice on Saturday, and we’ve sat down with the manager and looked at things we can do better. Now it’s time to put that into practice.”

Beevers is keen to bring another side into the relegation scrap, even if it is one close to his heart.

“I don’t look at the table too much because you can’t affect it by poring over it and going over where you think you can pick up points,” he said. “ But if we can make up ground on Barnsley or any of the clubs above us then that is a good thing.

“We go out there on Saturday for three points, regardless of who we’re playing against.”