Barnsley: League position irrelevent, says Heckingbottom

The Reds are sitting pretty in third place after their first away win of the season at Preston North End on Saturday.

The 39-year-old is more pleased with the run the Reds are on, winning four of their last five, than where they sit in the table.

And Heckingbottom knows his side are capable of stringing wins together after last season’s remarkable rise from bottom to play-off promotion.

Ten players have netted for the club so far this term, including Alfie Mawson who has moved to Swansea, and Heckingbottom feels it’s important for everyone to contribute.

“Everyone’s going on about our league position but it’s absolutely irrelevant to me,” explained Heckingbottom.

“It’s where we finish at the end of the season that’s important.

“The pleasing thing for me is four wins from our opening six games and the fact that we’ve scored goals.

“I know we’re capable of runs like that and we may have runs the other way but we all know that we can turn it around if we do.

“We had attacking threat across the whole pitch last season and it’s something we’ve spoken about behind closed doors.

“We want to be a threat in all areas and we want everyone to have the opportunity to create or score goals.”

Heckingbottom’s charges will be vying for their third win on the spin when they travel to Molineux this evening.

The Reds have no new injury worries and Heckingbottom believes his side will have to be at their best to overcome 12th-placed Wolves: “They’re a strong, attacking, side and try and play a brand of football which causes the opposition problems.”

“We’re going to have to be at our best again for another tough game.

“They’ve got a big, strong, squad and they can really freshen things up by bringing in six or seven players against us.

“You would expect them to be right up there come the end of the season and I’m sure they will be.

“We’re back in the routine now after the break with the international calendar and we’re back on it.

“We planned for it before the season that these blocks [between the international breaks] will be really relentless.”