BARNSLEY head coach Darrell Clarke says there’s still ‘a lot more to do’ if the Reds are to push for promotion this season - and admits that the January transfer window is a ‘tough’ one.
Barnsley are currently sitting fifth in League One, with 42 points from 25 games, and have won each of the last four.
They beat Crawley Town 3-0 at Oakwell on Saturday, having beaten Wrexham, Peterborough and Bolton in the past few weeks.
After four games in ten days, the Reds have had a rare break this week and will travel to Northampton Town tomorrow.
The Reds are now just past the half way point of the season, with 21 games remaining in the league campaign.
But how does Clarke assess his first few months in charge?
He said: “When I came in there was obviously quite a lot of work to be done.
“There were a lot of players that were mainstays in the team last year that were no longer here.
“We were working with two or three players that were in the team last year and then a lot of them were fringe players.
“Getting some additions in was obviously vital.
“It’s a good building block with 21 games remaining.
“I’ve said that I want to attack this second half of the season and we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can challenge to do that.
“But don’t underestimate how much work we still have to do here.
“Yes we’re on a good run but we still have plenty to do.
“There’s plenty of areas we need to improve on, plenty of areas we need to improve the squad on and we need to just keep pushing forward.”
But Clarke is not resting on his laurels.
He added: “It’s an unbelievable amount of work that myself and my coaching staff and my analytical team do.
“We’ve had no breaks over the Christmas period, us as staff because we’re putting it all together so that the players not only do they see the information, the work we do in the classroom, what we’re trying to get onto, but then we’re obviously on the training pitch.
“I think it’s a little bit lazy at times when people just think we come in and train for an hour and a half and get on our way.”
Barnsley made their first signing of the January transfer window last week as full-back Neil Farrugia signed on a free transfer from Shamrock Rovers.
Clarke’s team were interested in signing competition for young wing-back Georgie Gent and Farrugia is expected to offer that, though the head coach admits he will take some time to come into the team.
On the transfer window, Clarke said: “We’re working hard to get the positions that I’m after.
“The recruitment team and Mladen are all working hard to do that.
“We’ve got one over the line and we’ll have to see how the window goes.
“It’s a difficult window - managers up and down the country will be telling you that.
“It’s ever-moving so we’ll always talk about the deals when they’re done but there’s a lot of work going off in the background.”
It’s thought the Reds are interested in signing a new striker as well as a new goalkeeper after Gabriel Slonina returned to Chelsea after his loan spell was cut short.
Meanwhile midfielder Matthew Craig has returned to his parent club Tottenham Hotspur after a mixed spell at Oakwell.
The 21-year-old arrived at the club in the summer and was a mainstay in the team at the start of the season.
However he has only made two appearances for the club since November and has not been involved in a matchday squad this year.
He was subsequently sent back out on loan to fellow League One side Mansfield Town yesterday.
The Reds have been linked with a move for Ilkeston Town striker Tom Cursons.
The 23-year-old has scored 20 goals in all competitions for the Northern Premier League outfit so far this season.
He is out of contract in the summer but Championship side Derby County and fellow League One clubs Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United have also reportedly shown interest in signing the forward.
