Patrick Schmidt did his research before joining Barnsley earlier this month.

The 21-year-old Austrian striker, who made his debut as a late substitute in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Birmingham City, looked into the history of the Reds as well as all their opponents in the 2019/20 Championship. 

Schmidt said: “The club talked to my agent a few months ago and I had time to read about them and watch videos from last season and this season. I read about the history of the club and that they were playing for one year in the Premier League. 

“I also did my research on the opponents. There are lots of big clubs in the Championship. I scrolled through the clubs and looked at their transfers and their history. I knew a lot of them because they have been in the Premier League before. I also looked Barnsley and the other clubs up on FIFA (video game) and played with and against them.” 

Schmidt’s head coach Daniel Stendel and captain Mike Bahre are both German, so speak the same language as him, while his Austrian compatriot Sami Radlinger also arrived this summer. 

“That will help me in the beginning, and I am happy there are people who speak German, but I also want to spend time with the English players, not just with the Austrian and German players.”

Schmidt has been given number 19, previously worn by Kieffer Moore who netted 19 goals during the promotion last season before moving to Wigan Athletic earlier this month. 

Asked if he felt under pressure to replace Moore, Schmidt said: “I think there is a little bit of pressure everywhere in football, that is our job. I also want to score so it is OK if the fans expect the goals. Kieffer was a great player, I watched some movies of him. I hope he does well at Wigan.

“I am not a big player who wants to secure every ball. I am very fast and I like to go deep behind the defenders. I think I have good shooting skills so I hope I score many goals from the club.”