BARNSLEY are about to start a spell of 24 games in 98 days from tomorrow’s trip to Reading until the last match of the season at home to Stockport County on May 2.

They play 16 league games in the next 56 days, from Saturday until the March international break, as many they did in the previous 147 between the end of August and now.

There is currently only one free midweek in the next eight weeks.

The second half of the season will begin on Tuesday at Cardiff and will be played across 95 days – basically one match every four days.

It will be a gruelling schedule physically and mentally for a squad that currently is very low in depth in some areas, although they are trying to address that in the transfer window.

But they will be boosted by the vital win over Blackpool on Saturday, following the positive performance in the FA Cup at Liverpool, and hope for a longer period of success.

Barnsley’s points totals at the halfway stage in the last three League One seasons, starting from 2022/23, were 43, 42 then 36, leaving them fourth in the first two then eighth a year ago.

This time, with one match left until the midway point, they have 32 points and are 15th.

That points tally at halfway would usually have a side on course for a mid-table finish, and could be a platform for more than that, but they find themselves just three points above the drop zone.

That is mainly because of their five games in hand on some teams, and at least two on all of them, which has skewed the standings against them but also provides them with extra chances to climb a tight league.

They are just seven points off sixth-placed Huddersfield with five games in hand.

But what counts against them is their form – 16 points from the last 15 games since September is pretty much relegation form over four months – and their defending. They have still kept the fewest clean sheets in the EFL.

Their most recent league shut-outs were against Luton in November, at Peterborough in August and at Rotherham last February.

Although debutants Owen Goodman and Eoghan O’Connell did quite well on Saturday in a new-look defensive unit, the Reds still conceded another sloppy goal and presented the visitors with more good chances.

The next few games look hard with long trips to in-form Reading then leaders Cardiff before hosting Stevenage who are also in the promotion mix, although on a bad run.

The home matches in February against Northampton and AFC Wimbledon are surely must-wins.

As for the transfer window, they desperately need to bolster their options on the right wing while Hourihane wants a striker with extra pace.

Last week’s fan forum painted a grim picture of the Reds having the 13th best budget in the division while the head coach essentially admitted some of the defenders are not good enough but are unlikely to be replaced until the summer.

They appear to be shifting towards a back three with wing-backs but do not have much fit back-up at centre-back and Corey O’Keeffe is the only natural right wing-back.

The next weeks, on and off the pitch – with 27 points to play for in the next 28 days – might give us a little bit more of an inkling of where Barnsley could finish this season.