Midfielder Luke Hyam has impressed manager Paul Jewell not only enough to win a new contract but also to be cited as an example to other players. In February, former Northgate High School pupil and academy scholar Hyam was controversially offered only a new one-year deal but has since shown his manager he is well worth a longer term contract.
Jewell said: "He’s been terrific. I’ve got to take my hat off to Luke Hyam. He’s an example to all players when they think all the world’s against them.
"He wasn’t even in our reserves side last season on a regular basis and I think he’s shown a brilliant attitude.
"I think he’s improved as a player, I think his confidence is coming through. He’s going to have peaks and troughs, but he will definitely be one that we will want to give a new deal, no doubt about that, that’ll be sooner rather than later. I haven’t spoken to him about it, but it’s one that I’ve spoken to the owner about.
"He’s done well, really well, and he’s got a lot of an improvement in him. He’s an example to all the young lads who think the door’s closed on them - it’s never shut.”
The Blues boss says he’s had spells as an outcast at clubs during his playing days and that it’s important to keep working hard and not feeling sorry for yourself: "As a player [at Bradford] I was training on my own in different training kit from everybody else at one stage, and 18 months or two years later, I was the manager.
"So, you’ve got to keep fighting for yourself. Luke’s done that and he’s an example to all the young players — or even the older players or more experienced players as we call them now as we haven’t got any older players — that it’s never too late.
"While you’re here and you’re training every day, you’ve always got a chance to impress me.”