Jose Morais believes Barnsley need to win at least two of their remaining four matches to avoid relegation, but he insists they can do even better and go to Derby County on the final day on May 6 already safe.

Following their 2-2 draw at home to fellow strugglers Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, the Reds are 22nd, two points adrift of safety although they have a game in hand over the teams immediately above them. They have won just three of their last 28 matches in all competitions.

Defeat at Leeds United tomorrow could leave them as many as five points adrift of safety, depending on other results, whereas a win will lift them out of the relegation zone if Bolton or Birmingham fail to win. Morais told the Chronicle: "We definitely need to win the next game then, after that, we need to look at the table and opponents' results and see what is going on. If we can win all four games – extraordinary. I believe we have to win a minimum of two."

Morais believes the Reds can collect enough points from the trips to Leeds tomorrow and Nottingham Forest on Tuesday as well as the final home game against Brentford on April 28 to go to Derby safe. He said: "I hope that we don't need the last game to achieve what we want. If we win the next three games, we can be safe. I believe it is possible to go to the last game knowing we are in the Championship for next season."

He added: "Things are in our hands and we are delaying the big decisions for our future, but we can't delay them forever. He said: "We are running out of time and we need to win games now."

Morais says he can draw on his experience of saving Turkish club Antalyaspor in 2016. He said: "They were at the bottom of the league but I took them into the middle in tenth. I don't think that the past can be repeated, but a certain experience of a situation like this can give you possibilities and solutions."

Barnsley have taken the lead in four of their last six games but conceded an equaliser on each of those occasions and only won once. Morais said: "We are capable of holding the lead but we need to show the strength and discipline we need to do that. We are working on it and hopefully we can do it better in the next game."