Conor Chaplin is hoping he goes on another superb scoring run in the final ten games of the season to help Barnsley stay in the Championship.
After joining from Coventry City last summer, the 23-year-old striker scored once in his first 15 Barnsley matches but then netted seven in new head coach Gerhard Struber’s first seven games.
Although he has 12 for the season, he has only netted two in his last 13 Championship appearances. Chaplin told the Chronicle: “I am hoping for another run. Every striker looks for that because it was a purple patch. But, even when I was scoring those goals, I knew it wouldn’t happen all the time. I know football too well to think that.
"If I was on that run all the time, I would be playing for Barcelona next to Leo Messi. You have to take your purple patch when it comes and, when it goes away, just get your goals here and there. I would probably have been happy with this number of goals by this point but I don’t want to just rest on that. I want to get to 15 and then more and more goals to help the team.”
Struber has admitted that Chaplin’s goals record is likely to make him a target for other Championship clubs, despite being contracted until 2023. The striker said: “I don’t think any of the lads are thinking of personal aspirations. Everyone is just focused on keeping the club in this division. The club comes before any of the players and we’re all pulling in the same direction.”
Chaplin scored in December at Cardiff City but the Bluebirds – who visit Oakwell tomorrow – came from 2-1 down to triumph 3-2 thanks to an injury-time winner. Chaplin said: “I remember the feeling after that game was a really disappointing one. “We were probably the better team that day but we didn’t stand up to the test late on as a defensive unit. “That is something where we have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few months and we will try to prove that at the weekend.”
Chaplin is enjoying playing up front with Jacob Brown, just in front of top-scorer Cauley Woodrow in a 4-4-2 diamond for the second-bottom Reds. He said: “For a team that is lower down in the division, there are a lot of attacking players in our team which might not be the same in other teams. “Cauley has played number ten before but he is a striker and you know he will score goals. We complement each other. “Things I can’t do, Browny and Cauley can do and things Browny can’t do, me and Cauley can do.”
