CONOR Hourihane says Barnsley need to learn ‘really, really quickly’ from the disastrous three minutes in Lincoln in midweek while he admits having played the fewest matches of any EFL club this season is ‘frustrating’.

The Reds are tenth in League One with 25 points, six off the play-offs and six clear of the relegation zone with up to three games in hand on the sides around them. They are due to host Leyton Orient on Saturday.

Barnsley won 1-0 in the FA Cup at Peterborough United on Saturday then lost 3-1 at Lincoln City on Tuesday, with the hosts’ second goal coming 12 seconds after the re-start from the equaliser then another arriving three minutes later. Hourihane was shocked by the eventual winner which saw his side totally undone by a long ball.

He told the Chronicle: “It’s a moment of madness that the group need to really, really learn from quickly.

“They should have realised we were on top in the game and we need to get back to dominating.

“It was a crazy moment and we needed to be really calm.

“The second goal ended up being such a mad moment that it created the third goal. It’s a really steep learning curve and we need to get better for sure.”

No team in the EFL have played fewer league games this season than Barnsley with 16.

The Reds have already had three games called off in the three autumn international breaks this season so still have to rearrange home games with Cardiff City and Northampton Town. They are due to travel to Stevenage on February 10.

Their scheduled game at home to Wycombe on January 10 will also be moved due to the FA Cup run.

There is another international break in March in which Barnsley are due to visit Northampton, so that could be another postponement if they have three players called up as expected, while the Reds have had at least one away match called off due to a frozen pitch in the last three winters.

Having several games in hand could be an advantage to Barnsley if they get favourable results in them but it may also see the gap between themselves and the top six grow while creating a very busy schedule in the second half of the campaign. There are 11 free midweeks in the 2026 schedule.

Hourihane told the Chronicle: “It’s a little bit frustrating. You are OK with having one or two. But it will become four and that’s a lot. The schedule becomes very busy.

“You can look at it both ways.

“I would like to have played a couple of them but, if we pick up points over the Christmas period and we have that amount of games in hand, then it looks like we can really make a real run for it in the second half of the season.

“It’s frustrating because we could be a couple of points outside the top six rather than six but we have to accept it and hopefully get a couple of the games played in January and February rather than March or April.”

Hourihane is looking for more consistency from his young squad as they approach the busy Christmas period.

After hosting Orient, Barnsley will play five games in 15 days.

They visit Exeter City on December 20 then host Mansfield Town on Boxing Day and Lincoln City on the 29th before beginning 2026 at Wigan Athletic on New Year’s Day and Port Vale on January 4.

“We weren’t quite there to make that step up on Tuesday but we’ll try to do it on Saturday.

“We have such an exciting group of players but Reyes (Cleary), Vimal (Yoganathan), Blandy (Jono Bland) and Patrick Kelly are still babies.

“Jack Shepherd only came into the professional game at 22.

“To demand top performances week in, week out is unrealistic right now.

“There will be bumps in the road.

“We will win games playing unbelievably which will be so satisfying but there will be times when it is really frustrating and inconsistent.

“That’s the process we’re in.”