Barnsley FC need a sharper cutting edge in front of goal

The Reds have scored 15 goals in eight league games this season, netting four times in convincing wins over Oxford and Rochdale.

Kieffer Moore was at the heart of the Tykes’ impressive start, hitting six in three outings during a hot streak, but the goals have dried up lately.

The former Rotherham striker’s failure to find the net has coincided with Barnsley’s two-game winless streak, leaving them seventh in the table.

Their struggles in front of goal have cost them points in the home draw with Walsall and the defeat at Coventry.

The Reds missed several chances and were punished on both occasions, with Andy Cook scoring a late leveller at Oakwell and then Jordan Willis heading a 80th-minute winner at the Ricoh Arena the following week.

Left-back Pinillos is confident his side, who have conceded just five times, will continue to create opportunities.

But he knows they need to start converting them more frequently as they bid for an immediate return to the Championship.

“I think we’ve started well and played some good games – in the last two or three games we’ve been creating chances but we didn’t have the luck,” he said.

“Sometimes we need just two chances to score, other times we need four or five, but I think we’re in a good way and we just need to keep working on the small things.

“The team has been playing well and, if we keep training hard and doing what the gaffer wants on the pitch, we will continue to do well.

“We have had really good chances to score, but this is football.

“Everyone is happy with how we are working and we just need to keep going.”

Barnsley’s failure to win their last two matches has seen them slip seven points off leaders Peterborough.

But with 38 fixtures still remaining, Pinillos is confident the Reds will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

“We’ve not played too many games and we have to go step by step, but I think we have good enough players to be up there at the end of the season,” he added.