Assistant head coach Dimas Teixeira is 'sure' Barnsley will win their season-defining home match tomorrow against the Championship's worst away side Bolton Wanderers.
Following the 3-2 comeback victory in the South Yorkshire derby at home to Sheffield United on Saturday then the 1-0 loss at Ipswich Town on Tuesday, the Reds are still in the highest relegation position and two points behind fourth-bottom Bolton.
With bottom two Burton Albion and Sunderland seven and six points off safety respectively with four games remaining, the battle to avoid being the third team to go down appears to be between Barnsley, Bolton, Birmingham and Reading with the Reds having a game in hand on the others.
Victory tomorrow would take Jose Morais' men out of the relegation zone while defeat could leave them as many five points adrift depending on other results. Morais did not go to yesterday's pre-match press conference, with former Portugal and Juventus star Dimas facing the press.
Dimas said: "It's a very big game and everyone knows that. It has something special because Bolton are a direct opponent for us with three massive points for the team that wins. We have five finals before the end and this is one. We expect to win but there are another four games after that and it won't be over. The boys know, with the words and confidence we give them, that they are highly prepared and we will win this game for sure.
"A win will obviously give us a very positive atmosphere for the next games and we will go out of the relegation zone. I was relegated at the early stage of my (playing) career. The players know relegation is the worst feeling in football. We want as many fans as possible in the stadium for the Bolton game. I think they are starting to believe more that the team is capable. Even at Ipswich there were quite a few fans and we thank them for following us.
"At home, we expect them to be like they were against Sheffield United and hopefully the stadium will have more fans than usual. We feel the supporters are closer to the team now."
Bolton picked up just two points from their first 11 games this season, losing eight in a row at one point without scoring, and were nine points below the Reds in October. But they dragged themselves away from trouble over the following five months and went into the last international break six points clear of Barnsley.
That gap has now shrunk to two points as the Trotters have lost four in a row without scoring in their last three including Tuesday's 2-0 home loss to Millwall.The Reds would have overtaken Bolton – who have won just one out of nine – if they had won in Ipswich in midweek.
Dimas said: "We have seen Bolton live once and we have watched videos of their games. They are also on a bad run and we have to take advantage of that."They had a good run then lost an important player (Gary Madine) and we have to take advantage of that."
Dimas – who arrived alongside the head coach in February – believes the Reds have improved under Morais' leadership, especially since the two-week international break last month. He said: "Those ten training sessions really made the difference on organisation, the team work and now everyone understands our ideas. The performances have been better since then. We have to be proud of the team. They are understanding that they have quality and they are showing the fans and themselves that they can be much better.
"In moments of the games, we have been much better than most teams, for a longer time than any other teams. We have played top teams in the last weeks, Bristol City, Sheffield United, Millwall, and the results we got showed the quality these boys have and that they can get results against anyone. We were super-confident going to Ipswich, it was a disappointing loss but that confidence continues."
Barnsley have won four of their 21 home league matches so far this season, which is equal with their lowest ever tally set in the 1952/53 campaign when they only played 21 Oakwell fixtures. The Reds could also break the record for the fewest home goals in a season as they currently have 21, one fewer than the previous lowest in both 1989/90 and the 2013/14 relegation season.
But Barnsley have scored as many goals in their last two home matches – a 2-2 draw against Bristol City and 3-2 win over the Blades – as in their previous 11.Meanwhile, Bolton have won the fewest games away from home in the Championship this season – with only a 1-0 success at Sheffield United on December 30 out of their 21 matches on the road – while their totals of 11 points and 12 goals are also the lowest of any side on their travels.
Only their near neighbours Bury, who are bottom of League One, and League Two bottom club Chesterfield have picked up fewer points on the road in the EFL while no side has scored fewer goals away from home.
Bolton sold ten-goal top-scorer Madine to Cardiff City for £6million in January and have struggled to replace his goals with just seven in 14 since the transfer window closed. Madine netted twice against Barnsley – including a controversial penalty conceded by Liam Lindsay – in the 3-1 home success on December 2 at the Macron Stadium. Tom Bradshaw won and scored a penalty to make it 1-1 in the first half but the Reds lost and continued their terrible record against Bolton.
The Trotters have beaten Barnsley four times in a row and in six of their last seven meetings while the Reds have not defeated the Wanderers in 11 matches since a 1-0 FA Cup win in 1998 when Darren Barnard scored a free-kick.
