Manager Simon Davey's side saw off play-off contenders Ipswich Town 4-1 last night to ease fears of relegation and lift Barnsley five points clear of the bottom three.

Assistant boss Ryan Kidd commented: "It's a crazy league at the moment, most of the teams underneath us have won. I'd probably look for 51-52 points this year. We were safe on 50 last year but there's a lot of teams still winning."

He added: "At this stage of the season, you get carried away with looking at the league table. We're on course to get the points we need."

Barnsley skipper Brian Howard scored the first hat-trick of his career last night. Jon Macken added the other goal.

"We knew we needed three points in the league and we've got a great result," Howard reflected. "It would have been easy for us to go under especially after going 1-0 down. Everyone was physically and mentally tired. We've shown great character, taken the game by the scruff of the neck, gone on and got a fantastic win."

He added: "Sometimes I have to pinch myself because of how well the season is going for the club and myself."

Howard is hoping for a call up to the Scotland squad. He has been watched by coach George Burley.

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"After the performance at the weekend and a hat-trick tonight, I hope may be to sneak into the squad maybe for Croatia on the 25th," he said.

"My dad's from Glasgow, I've been brought up in a Scottish family. I'd love to play for them."

Barnsley were missing injured duo Martin Devaney and Marciano van Homoet last night. Lewin Nyatanga returned to the back four and Diego Leon replaced Devaney.

Jon Macken was prefered as Kayode Odejayi's partner to Istvan Ferenczi.

Barnsley also gave 17-year-old Jacob Butterfield his home debut. He was on the bench for the cup tie against Chelsea. He replaced Howard with only minutes left last night.

"Butterfield has had to bide his time as a young pro. He's been with us now for about 12 months," Kidd said. "He's a fantastic talent, has been playing in the reserves a lot. It was a great chance to get him on tonight when we're 4-1 up just to give him a little taste. He came on at Newcastle in the league cup. He's going to be a very good player, we're just going to have to protect him a little bit. He's still learning the game, still got a long way to go but we're hopeful he's going to have a good career with us at Barnsley."

Barnsley Reserves were due to play Lincoln at Oakwell this afternoon (2pm).

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