AT HALF-TIME in Barnsley’s visit to Blackpool in September, you could never have imagined the Reds’ current predicament ahead of the return fixture.

The score was only 0-0 but the visitors had been the better side and played some excellent football as they looked favourites to win and make it six victories from eight games at the start of the league season.

They could have gone top with a win while history books were being trawled to find better starts to a season. It looked like a positive new era under Conor Hourihane.

But, within seconds of the second half, something had changed – and it has never really changed back throughout this deeply frustrating league season.

The Tangerines massively upped their intensity, hassling and harrying their visitors who crumbled under the pressure and could barely string a pass together.

The hosts dominated the second period and scored a 98th-minute winner.

That began a run of three wins in 14 league games for Barnsley which, coupled with having several games in hand, has seen Hourihane’s side plummet down the table to their current position of 17th, two points above the relegation zone.

Third tier teams have realised that, if they are energetic and defensively organised against Barnsley, they will have a good chance to win.

The Reds were seconds away from a rare clean sheet at Blackpool but the now-departed Neil Farrugia diving into a rash tackle and losing the ball for the winner was a good example of the constant sloppy errors and lack of game management which have plagued them all season.

They have had glimpses of brilliance since, mainly the superb 5-0 thrashing of Luton in November, but they have won one in seven league games after that.

Winger Reyes Cleary came into the side following the losses to Blackpool then Port Vale, and has been a revelation with five goals and six assists in 11 league starts.

But, bizarrely, Barnsley have won three of those games compared to five wins in the ten games he has not started.

The Reds can put good moves together but, when that is not happening in games, the ‘pass the ball to Reyes and hope for genius’ policy is not sustainable since, despite being a hugely exciting talent, he is a 21-year-old who has barely played professionally and often double-marked.

In contrast, previous strugglers Blackpool have gone in the other direction since replacing Steve Bruce with Ian Evatt, and now join the Reds in a cluster of teams hovering just above drop zone in the congested table.

Barnsley are in a stronger position with games in hand – 29 points from from 21 would not normally have them close to the bottom four – but their league form is far worse.

The Reds can take plenty of positives from their very encouraging performance at Anfield on Monday but must refocus quickly with less time to prepare than their visitors.

Hourihane will have to decide whether he continues with the back five which worked well at Liverpool and if he gives Eoghan O’Connell a full debut.

Blackpool have inflicted plenty of pain on the Reds in recent years.

They won 3-0 at Oakwell last March, which led to Hourihane replacing Darrell Clarke as head coach, and saw off Neill Collins ten months earlier despite the Reds being fifth after 45 games.

A loss to the Seasiders saw the away end turn against Markus Schopp in 2021 then, later that season, the relegated and managerless Reds slumped to a miserable home defeat.

This one feels like a pivotal match, even if there will be 24 others left and any talk of another sacking is premature no matter what the result.

They have enough games in hand to easily catch up with the top six and Peterborough have shown you can go from the relegation fight to the top ten very quickly.

But a defeat would be a blow for morale – following the two home losses at Christmas – and potentially put them in the relegation zone, with tough trips to Reading and Cardiff to follow then a home game with another top ten side Stevenage.

With their away form very poor and some hard matches ahead on the road, the home games with Blackpool, Northampton and AFC Wimbledon in the next month feel vital for staving off any serious threat of a relegation battle.