'Pleasure to have him' - Doncaster Rovers captain Richard Wood on welcoming foe-turned-friend Billy Sharp

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Doncaster Rovers skipper Richard Wood says he is eagerly looking forward to being on the same side as Billy Sharp - after years of trying to chop him down!

Veteran striker Sharp re-joined Rovers last month after the club beat off competition from a flurry of clubs. Wood, who turned 39 last week, is seven months older than Sharp who he knows well from their battles down the years.

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The pair faced off numerous times when Wood was at Sheffield Wednesday and Sharp was at arch-rivals Sheffield United. They'll also have played countless times during Wood's long spell at Rotherham, with Sharp also having represented the likes of Scunthorpe, Leeds and Southampton in his goal-laden career.

"It's nice to have somebody of a similar age to me!" said a tongue-in-cheek Wood, speaking from Rovers' training camp in Portugal. "It's nice. We'll bounce off each other and help each other out and obviously both of us together will help the squad and especially the young ones.

"Billy's got plenty of experience and has been there and done it. He's played everywhere - all over the world now - so there's a lot of know-how. It's a pleasure to have him in this team and I'm looking forward to working with him.

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"We've both said it'll be nice to be on the same team rather than me trying to kick him and him trying to score past me, so a nice change."

Wood says that although the camp has already been hard work, it's worth it in the long run as he and the existing group look to integrate the seven new arrivals.

He added: "Training's been difficult and Dave's (Rennie, head of medical) definitely put us through our paces already and there's a long way to go yet.

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Captain Richard WoodCaptain Richard Wood
Captain Richard Wood

"We're together 24/7 in this camp and live in each other's pockets which helps. We get plenty of time to speak to each other, find out all about them and ask them questions and just get to know them as much as possible so they feel at home."

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