Barnsley: Why Reds caretaker manager Adam Murray wants to top Championship mini-league

The Reds are bottom of the table having not won since the opening day of the season and are four points off safety.

Murray, who has taken two points from his first three games in charge reckons up to eight teams could be involved in a relegation scrap this term and he wants to be at the top of that pile.

“The league table now is fairly similar to what it looked like at this time last year,” he said. “What we have looked at is that there is a bigger group of teams that are going to be in the mix this season, in terms of fighting to stay in this league.

“And I honestly believe we have got enough to stay in the league, I really do.

“We have got a mini-league at the bottom that we want to get to the top of and we are focused on that. That is our short-term goal.

“There are a fair few few, probably 14th or 15th place, you can see how in this league things can swing around with a couple of wins. We need to make sure that in our mini-league we stay in contact with the teams above us.”

The Reds will be aiming to end their drought when former boss Lee Johnson brings his Bristol City side to Oakwell tomorrow night (Friday).