Barnsley will be looking to win seven consecutive Championship matches for the first time in their history when they host fourth-bottom Birmingham City tomorrow.
The Reds have won their last six league matches – the first time they have done so in the same second tier season – to move up to seventh in the Championship.
Head coach Valerien Ismael said: "We are very delighted about the performances and the points. It is a great pleasure to see the guys understand our way to play. Now they find the results as well. We want to stay on that way, to stay hungry and focused on the next win and keep moving up the table.
"The win at QPR means we can play without any pressure. We will face a lot of teams with a lot of pressure to stay in the league or to be promoted.
"The guys know the Championship. You can be on a good run or bad run. With three games a week the table can change very quick from Saturday to Saturday. That’s why we really don’t look at the table. We just know if we win we will move up the table. That is our only motivation. We have worked very hard to get into this position and we don’t want to throw is away easily.
"It is a great challenge for the guys tomorrow. Birmingham need points to stay in the league and they fight until the end to stay in the league. We need a big mentality to take the duels and adapt to the way they play.”
Barnsley won 2-1 at Birmingham in December, coming from behind to win a Championship came for the first time in more than 50 attempts.
Ismael said: "When you come in as a manager, you have to prepare the team to implement your philosophy then you see what you have to improve. Winning games form behind was a big area to improve and we did that against Birmingham. It was a game-changer in the mindset of the players. They knew they could do it and then we did it again and again and again. Then we had other issues and problems then we found the solutions. We keep working until you reach the perfect mindset.”
Birmingham are known as a physical side but Ismael says all teams now play a direct style against Barnsley.
"The last few games we have to deal with the direct style from the opponents and defend well from set pieces. The opponent changes the way to play against us and is more direct than normal. But we need to adapt and react."
