Barnsley have managed to gather an incredible run of momentum in the last few weeks. It has been helped by the goal by the striker Jason Scotland, who was signed a week before from Ipswich Town. It was only a few weeks ago that Barnsley appeared to have lost all hope in the possibility of staying up in the division. However, the arrival of David Flitcroft as the permanent manager of the club a few weeks ago has changed the fortunes completely. They are currently only a few points off safety and with momentum behind them.

Scotland scored the second goal for Barnsley in the 2-0 win over Millwall during the weekend. His goal came after Dagnall had given the club the lead in the 56th minute. The club are undefeated in the last two matches after going through a terrible run of form previously. Due to the fact that they are expected to bring in a few more players on the final day of the transfer window, things are looking extremely positive for Barnsley. The manager Flitcroft said after the match that he is extremely delighted to have a player like Jason Scotland in the team. The 33-year-old has great experience of playing in this division.

“Jason played his part. But I’m more excited about his quality on the ball, his passing, his movement – [he was] brilliant. His finish was exquisite, but I look at his all-round game, his intelligence, runs and link-up play and he said to me before the game: ‘Don’t worry about me Flick, I’ve got an unbelievable touch and my movement is great.’ I’ve only known him 24 hours, but there’s already an excitement round him and a calmness and I look forward to working with him because he might have found a home here,” said Flitcroft.

Barnsley have had a poor first half of the season, which has led to the team being rooted to the bottom of the table. As a result, the club had no other choice but to change the manager by sacking Keith Hill ahead of the January transfer window in order to give his replacement an opportunity to bring in a few players of his own. They were hoping to lure the Nottingham Forest manager Sean O’Driscoll as the replacement. O’Driscoll is clearly the first choice for the club and the fact that he had been sacked by Nottingham Forest a few days ago looked to have made things easier.

O’Driscoll revealed on Sunday that he did have talks with the Barnsley board over the various aspects involving strategies, but he decided not to accept the offer from the club. The Barnsley director Don Rowing has revealed that it is extremely disappointing not to get a man of the O’Driscoll calibre, but he understands the decision taken by the former Nottingham man. Barnsley decided to sack the manager Keith Hill after the poor run of results concluded with the 3-1 defeat at the hands of manager less Blackburn a few weeks ago.

His assistant David Flitcroft has been placed in charge of the team on a short-term basis. “It is a body blow for us. I think he liked what he saw but it was just the wrong time. He has undoubted coaching ability and has great experience in this division but we pick ourselves up and we will look elsewhere. We have to be very careful in terms of what we do and give it some thought. We don’t want to make a rash or rushed appointment; we have to get someone who is right for the football club,” said Rowing.