Barnsley will continue to focus on chasing the sides in the top six in every match – starting with Boxing Day's home game against lowly Blackburn Rovers – until it is clear how this season's Championship table will shape up, says head coach Paul Heckingbottom.

A year after being in the League One relegation zone, the Reds will spend Christmas in the top half of the Championship after the extraordinary 4-3 success at Cardiff City put them 12th, 11 points clear of the relegation zone and six off the play-offs. Heckingbottom's side have won three out of their last four matches, following a run of one win in 11, while only leaders Newcastle United have scored more than their 38 goals.

The Reds boss told the Chronicle: "We have an opportunity to keep chasing the teams at the top and try to create as big a gap as possible between us and the teams below us.  Luckily we managed to do that at Cardiff and it was a great result.  We will see as the season progresses if our focus changes but, if you keep clawing in the team in front of you, then you will do well."

He added: "I am really, really pleased with where we are in the table, how we're playing, that we're scoring lots of goals and winning different types of games.  We want to get better and games like Cardiff will give us belief we can do that. We will have to work hard, keep our standards high and get more decisions right than wrong then we will get what we deserve in the league table at the end of the season. "We won't get carried away because there are tougher tests to come."

Barnsley have a poor recent record on Boxing Day. Their trip to Bury was called off last year but they lost on December 26 in each of the previous five seasons. The last Boxing Day win was in 2008 at Burnley, then managed by Owen Coyle who is now in charge of Blackburn. Heckingbottom is hoping for a large crowd on Monday as the Reds look to build on their victory over Norwich in their last home game, which ended a 15-week winless run at Oakwell.

Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: "Boxing Day is always special. "I hope we get a really good turn-out, which we usually do.  Everyone comes in good voice to enjoy themselves and hopefully we will keep them in good spirits. We had a really good win in the last home match and our two away matches since then have been very exciting."

The Reds' first team had several days off after their trip to Cardiff but will now train throughout the Christmas period. Barnsley can move even further away from the bottom three with a win over Coyle's Blackburn who are 22nd with 20 points from 22 games, two adrift of safety. Although they have improved significantly since picking up just two points from their first seven games, they have lost their last three matches, all by a scoreline of 3-2, away at Lancashire rivals Preston then at home to second-placed Brighton and third-placed Reading. They will arrive at Oakwell exactly a month since their last victory, a shock 1-0 success at Newcastle four games ago.

Rovers have scored more goals than any side in the bottom six, thanks mainly to 21-year-old Southampton loanee Sam Gallagher and his veteran strikepartner Danny Graham who have nine and eight respectively and are both in the Championship's top ten for scorers. But two thirds of their league goals have come at Ewood Park while they have lost seven of their ten away games and have the third worst defensive record in the division.

Heckingbottom said: "Blackburn will be a big test. "They started the season very slowly but Owen has got a very strong team there now and they have been competitive in every game and picked up some really good results, home and away. We know it will be a tough game."

Since crushing Blackburn 5-1 in 2000, the Reds have not won any of the last eight meetings between the clubs which have brought five defeats and only one clean sheet. But Barnsley have made a habit of making history and breaking records throughout 2016, which has only one week and two matches remaining.

Heckingbottom said: "It's been a remarkable year. "What we have is a real togetherness at the club which is tremendous. We have gone up a league and we are stretched to the limit.  But everyone is giving their very best to achieve good things and I am talking the ownership, directors, coaching staff, players and fans. While that is happening we have just got to enjoy the good moments and stick together through the bad moments."