We will concentrate on ourselves, says Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel
Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel knows his side can only look after their own business as the League One promotion race hots up.
The Reds missed the chance to tighten the screw on their place in the top two as they drew with Coventry. With third-placed Portsmouth and fourth-placed Sunderland playing each other in the Checkatrade Trophy final on Sunday, Stendel's men could have gone seven points clear.
The Black Cats have three games in hand, which could see them overtake Barnsley in the race for a Championship return. Jack Ross' side will have a congested schedule during a packed April, starting with a midweek trip to Accrington, and Stendel is only looking in-house.
“We can only look to our games first, that we win our games” he said. “The other teams need to win, especially Sunderland and they have some difficult games. In the end, we will see after the May 4, who is in second place.”
The draw against Coventry, which was a disappointing result considering the hosts led the game twice, did at least extend their unbeaten run in League One to 20 games, a streak second only to champions elect Luton, who are 27 games with a loss.
Going almost half the season without suffering a defeat is an impressive achievement, especially considering the last few weeks they have been missing key players.
Cameron McGeehan and Jacob Brown were both suspended, while key duo Kieffer Moore and Kenny Dougal are out for the season with injury.
Stendel believes all of that makes his team this season “great”.
“We have had big games, we have some situations where we played with 10 men, had suspended players, had injured players and we have fought every game,” he added.
“Most of the time we have played well, we have played well this year, it's a great team.”
The Reds will look to make it 21 unbeaten on Saturday with a trip to Burton, who they recently drew 0-0 with at Oakwell.