THE SHRINKING crowds at Oakwell are not something that concerns Conor Hourihane but he is happy with Barnsley’s home form and grateful to the fans who have been turning up.

The last four official crowds at Oakwell have all been less than 10,000 which had not been the case for a league game since 2022.

The 8,806 attendance against Northampton earlier this month was the lowest announced for a league fixture for more than a decade since a game against Port Vale in late 2015.

They are averaging crowds of just over 11,000 throughout the season which is the seventh highest in the third tier.

Hourihane told the Chronicle: “We’d all want full houses and more atmosphere. But we recognise that it’s difficult out there as well for people to come all the time with the amount of games we have.

“Obviously, season ticket holders will always come.

“But then, the people paying on the gate, it’s not easy to come to all these games. We play Saturday, Tuesday constantly.

“It’s not something that I’m thinking of. But I must say, from a home support point of view, I think they’ve been brilliant over the last few weeks.

“They’re a big part of what we do in terms of the unbeaten run that we’re on at home.

“So we need to continue that.”

Barnsley are unbeaten in their last five home games since the turn of the year – with three wins and two draws – while they already have more league wins and points at home than last season.

Hourihane said: “I think it’s a real important psychological thing that we’ve got here (at Oakwell) at the minute.

“You look at someone like Bradford, the kind of the momentum and the energy and the atmosphere they’ve created at their place and their record is second to none. It’s something that we have to create here. And right now, I always feel like, when we come here, that we’re going to be in every single game and put in a good performance.”