JON RUSSELL’S next appearance will be his 50th for Barnsley but he knows they are ‘spoilt for choice’ in his position of midfield.

The Reds have real depth with summer signings Conor Hourihane, Matty Craig and Kelechi Nwakali joining star men Adam Phillips and Luca Connell while Josh Benson is currently recovering from injury. Russell makes it eight midfielders vying to play in either a central three or a four-man diamond.

The 23-year-old Jamaica international has been in and out of the 11 since joining from Huddersfield in January last year.

He started on the bench against Mansfield on Friday but, after the Reds went 2-0 down early, came on after 25 minutes as they changed to a 4-4-2 from a 3-5-2 – impressing as they came back into the game but lost 2-1.

He then played all of the EFL Cup tie at Wigan on Tuesday, netting the winning penalty in the shoot-out.

Russell told the Chronicle: “The main thing is making an impact when you play.

“I feel I did that this week.

“You need to get the gaffer thinking. We’re spoilt for choice in midfield and it’s healthy competition.”

Friday’s loss meant the Reds have not won at home in eight competitive games across almost six months.

Russell said: “We definitely want to turn that around.

“We need to get the fans going, take encouragement from them.

“With not winning at home all the time, we just need to compose ourselves, get together as a team, and change it.”