BARNSLEY CLOSE IN ON PLAYOFF SPOT

Valerien Ismael and his Barnsley players have moved a step closer to clinching a playoff spot in the English Championship after the away win over Huddersfield Town on Wednesday night.

Daryl Dike scored the only goal of the game to hand Barnsley a vital win that moves them closer to their immediate target of securing one of the four playoff spots. Barnsley had to withstand sustained pressure from their hosts but they showed the character synonymous with them for the majority of this season to seal a priceless victory made more important by the dropped points from playoff spot rivals Reading.

Reading could only manage a draw at Luton Town and this means that the Royals are now six points adrift of Barnsley with three games to play in the regular season. The Royals could only manage a goalless draw at Luton Town.

That Reading result means thatBarnsley could qualify for the playoffs this weekend and with two rounds of games still to be played in the division. Barnsley will qualify for the playoffs if they beat relegation threatened Rotherham United at home on Saturday and Reading fail to beat Welsh team Swansea City at home on Sunday.

Barnsley were able to move closer to their target of securing the playoffs thanks to the overhead kick from the aforementioned Dike for the only goal of the game on 66 minutes at the expense of the Terriers. Dike profited from the good work from Carlton Morris for the game’s only goal. After the game, Barnsley manager Ismael expressed his delight with the result as he praised the players for bouncing back from the disappointing defeat to Coventry City in their last league game before the Huddersfield Town clash on Wednesday.