Stevie Mallan believes he can add something different to Barnsley's midfield if he is given a chance in the starting 11.

The 21-year-old signed last summer from Scottish club St Mirren but had to wait until Boxing Day to make his debut under Paul Heckingbottom who gave him just four starts. He was left out of Heckingbottom's replacement Jose Morais' first squad but has come off the bench in the last two matches and impressed with his corners and free-kicks which have led to several chances.

Morais has appeared to favour a central three of Joe Williams, Gary Gardner and Brad Potts. Mallan said: "All I can do is give my best when I get a chance. I am giving everything in training to prove to myself and to Jose that I am good enough to be in the starting 11. I think I can offer something a bit different to the team but we will see if that happens on Saturday. The first few months were frustrating.

"I moved away from home and wasn't playing so you do have bad moments but it's good that Jose has come in and shown trust in me. I was playing every week at St Mirren and I didn't really believe in the psychological side of things but, when you go through a stage of not playing, you realise how important it is. I used the club psychologist and I saw a new side of myself. It takes a big toll on you when you are training all week and not playing on Saturday."

One of the things that kept Mallan's spirits up during his tough first six months at Oakwell were his call-ups for the Scotland under 21s squad for whom he has played four games and scored once. He has been named in the squad for the game in Andorra a week today.

"I am looking forward to that and hopefully I will get a game with them. It kept me going when I wasn't playing for Barnsley and I was with the under 23s here. It gave me time away from the club, to get my head down, relax and take my mind off it. I have always enjoyed going up and meeting with some boys I played with at St Mirren."

Mallan is hoping to eventually emulate his Barnsley team-mate Oliver McBurnie and be called up to the Scotland senior squad. He said: "If you want to stand out and be at the top level, most players in Scotland would say England is the best place to do that. It's been a hard start for me but I am going to do everything I can to try to emulate what Oli has done. Hopefully, if I keep doing what I am doing, then I will do that soon."

Mallan admits there is frustration in the Oakwell dressing room about the ten-match winless home run. He said: "The boys spur on a lot more for the home games because of the fans getting behind us which gives us a lift. I don't think there is any extra pressure, things just haven't gone for us in each of those home games and it's been a bad luck story.

"We should have won against Norwich (a 1-1 draw on Tuesday) and right now the boys are hurting. But all we can do is take that pain and remember it and there are a lot of positives we can take into Saturday against Millwall. We are lacking wins at home and Saturday is a good opportunity to get one."