Poya Asbaghi says a win over Bristol City from 7.45pm tonight will mean Barnsley have had a good last month as they look to end a three-match winless run.

The Reds are 22nd in the Championship, four points off safety, while the Robins are 18th in the table, 14 points away from the play-offs and 18 above the relegation zone.

The Reds won three out of four at the end of February but, in March, they lost at fellow strugglers Derby then conceded late equalisers in draws against Stoke and Fulham. This is a third home game in seven days and Barnsley are unbeaten in four at Oakwell.

Asbaghi told the Chronicle: “If we win this game we will feel good about all the recent performances we have had. If we win we will say ‘look at all the good performances in the last month’, with Derby as the exception. If we lose we will say it was a while ago that we won. This game shows the way the feeling will be for us in the coming weeks.”

Bristol City are the highest scorers outside the top ten but only Barnsley’s fellow strugglers Reading and Peterborough have conceded more.

They had collected just two points from 11 away games before winning 1-0 at high-flying Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Asbaghi said: “Bristol City have really good individual skill. They are definitely a team you have to really respect. They have good offence. They can score goals. They have good players like Weimann (Andi, who has 17 goals this season).

“We have to have the same amount of respect for the defensive job as Saturday. The reason maybe why they aren’t near the top is the defence and hopefully we can find some weaknesses.

“Our big challenge is to do another good performance a couple of days after the last one.”

The Robins have drawn 2-2 in their last five games at Oakwell, but Asbaghi would not want that scoreline tomorrow.

He said: “I would never take a draw, especially at home. I wouldn’t take it against Fulham. I really wanted to win.’’

On the home fans in the last week, Asbaghi said: “They create a really good atmosphere, cheer the players. If we get a tough start, they help us to get up, if we get a good start, help us to keep it it up. That’s why we are getting more points at home because we have this crowd. We will need them until the end of the season.”

Callum Styles is due to be assessed after a calf problem kept him out of the Fulham game. No other players are set to return from injury and Asbaghi said there were no fresh injuries.

On October 30, City gained a 2-1 success over Barnsley who took the lead through Aaron Leya Iseka but Weimann bagged a brace just before the break.

It was one of the better performances under Markus Schopp but a seventh successive defeat and the head coach was sacked the next day.

Barnsley’s only win in 12 meetings with the Robins was last season when they triumphed 1-0 at Ashton Gate behind closed doors, with Carlton Morris netting during the seven-match winning run which took them into the play-offs.

They have two former Barnsley loan midfielders in Joe Williams, who made his professional debut for the Reds in the 2017/18 season, and Matty James who had two spells at Oakwell in 2017 and the first half of last season.