Sheffield Wednesday: Owls '˜one of many' interested in Conor Hourihane according to Barnsley boss

Wednesday are keen to sign the Reds’ goalscoring midfielder this month but face fierce competition from rivals in the Championship, including Aston Villa, plus Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers.

When asked if Hourihane could follow Owls new boy Sam Winnall in making the switch from Oakwell, Heckingbottom said: “They’d be one of dozens of teams interested in him, I would’ve thought, because he’s playing so well.

“Conor’s in a position where there’s lots of inquiries about him, through different sources and you could go on forever talking about it.

“I would have thought the talking will continue for a long time.”

As was Winnall, Hourihane is set to reach the end of his current contract at Barnsley in the summer.

Reflecting on Winnall’s departure to Wednesday, Heckingbottom said the striker would not have been deterred by any rivalry between the two South Yorkshire clubs.

“He wouldn’t have gone if he didn’t want to go, and let’s leave it at that,” Heckingbottom said.

“Sam’s not from Barnsley, he’s not from Sheffield, that doesn’t come into his thinking one little bit.

“He’s a professional football and he’ll be making decisions based on his career.

“We’ve said all along that we want the best possible team here and the best possible players here, and Sam was one of them,

“I’ve had a good relationship with Sam, at different times we’ve pushed each other in different ways.

“I’d like to think that during his time here we’ve made him better, and once it goes through he’s gone and I’ve got to focus on the other players.”