Barnsley have more points at the halfway stage of this season than they picked up in all of last season, while Daniel Stendel is confident they will rise from their current position of fifth in the second half of the campaign.
The Reds were relegated from the Championship with 41 points in 2017/18, a tally they have now surpassed with 23 games remaining after a 1-0 win at Blackpool on Saturday and a 2-0 Boxing Day triumph at home to Peterborough United on Wednesday took them up to 42 points.
Those wins have seen them move up two places to fifth, which is three clear of the side just outside the play-offs, South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers, and a further five ahead of the teams from eighth down.
Stendel’s men are eight points behind second-placed Luton Town and nine off leaders Portsmouth, with a game in hand on both. They will complete a gruelling run of festive fixtures against sides flying high in the table as they host fourth-placed Charlton Athletic tomorrow then face a New Year’s Day trip to Luton on Tuesday.
Head coach Stendel told the Chronicle: “We have a lot of confidence. For us, it is important that we can win these games. We know we are a very good team in League One but we haven’t been collecting enough points and we went out of the top six. We have a lot more chances to get higher than fifth in the league.”
Since losing 1-0 at Wycombe Wanderers on December 8, Barnsley have won two of their three games, with clean sheets in both those victories, while the other saw them play well in a draw with leaders Portsmouth.
Stendel said: “After we lost at Wycombe, we have played very well in three games which is what we need to do against the top-of-the-table teams. We know that, in December, we have a lot of big games against teams at the top of the table. I am happy that we are winning games again.”
