CONOR Hourihane admits Barnsley need to beat visitors Doncaster Rovers on Saturday to have anything to play for this season and will ‘have a real think’ about changes he makes to the team after Tuesday’s ‘flat’ performance.

The Reds are 12th, eight points off the top six and nine clear of the relegation zone.

They drew 2-2 at Mansfield Town on Saturday – having been 2-0 up – then 1-1 at home to lowly Wigan Athletic on Tuesday with a last-gasp leveller from debutant Charlie Lennon.

They have ten fixtures left starting at home to 17th-placed Doncaster – who are three points above the relegation zone and six behind the Reds – in an all-South Yorkshire clash.

They will then have two weeks off due to an international break before playing the last nine games in 29 days.

The Reds have taken nine points from the last six and are unbeaten in four but the last three have been draws.

Hourihane said that ‘I don’t wake up at four in the morning to drive up to Barnsley to finish mid-table’ but admits factors like squad depth in certain areas and a very busy schedule have hampered them.

He told the Chronicle: “I think to really put our best foot forward and try and come back after the international break with nine games to go, fresh and ready and hungry to hit the ground running, we have to win Saturday to have any bit of an outside chance.

“There’s something there for us at the minute. There’s something there where we’re looking harder to beat.

“We’re looking a bit more like a solid team and that’s been just down to a lot of work that we’ve done in terms of in and out of possession.

“On Tuesday, it was just a flatness, really. That was the frustrating part, particularly in the first half. If we want to have any chance of really kicking on, we need to win on Saturday.”

Doncaster are expected to bring around 2,500 away fans which means the crowd will be the largest for at least eight games.

Hourihane said: “The more people who are there, the better. We were short of energy on Tuesday night. Was it the schedule? Was it the Mansfield pitch because it was really heavy? I only made one change from that game.

“Whatever the reasoning, we’re hoping come Saturday, with the extra crowd and energy, that we can put in one big performance then enjoy a little bit of rest time.”

Hourihane admits he may have to alter his team in the seventh game in 21 days.

“Off the back of Tuesday night’s performance, I will have to have a real think about all the team and see who is ready and capable to go again.

“The game was flat. Substitutes came on and played very well.

“I expect a reaction in terms of energy and intensity.”

After winning five of their first seven games following promotion, Doncaster won just one of 16 and were four points adrift of safety in January. They won five out of nine to climb out of the drop zone before a three-game winless run.

This week they won 2-1 at home to fellow strugglers Blackpool on Saturday then drew 0-0 at high-flying Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday.

Doncaster manager Grant McCann made 44 appearances for the Reds between 2006 and 2008. He has won his last three games at Oakwell with Hull and Peterborough in the Championship then Doncaster in the EFL Trophy.

Matty Pearson, who spent the 2017/18 season at Oakwell, has been in and out of the team while fellow ex-Red Elliott Lee joined in January from Wrexham.

Hourihane said: “I expect them to come out a little bit more maybe than Wigan did.

“I know Wigan were really organised and had a couple of opportunities on the transition but that was probably from our own fault rather than their amazing play.

“In the second half, they sat back and tried to hold onto the lead.

“I expect, with the type of manager that Grant is, they will come out at us a little bit more.”

He added: “I am expecting a good game.

“I like the way Doncaster play and they have good players.

“ They brought in experienced bodies in January – Elliot Lee who we all know and I played with, and Neill Bryne who played against us for Bradford.

“They got a good result at Bolton which is not an easy place to go as we well know.”

This will be the 79th meeting of the two clubs but the first in the league at Oakwell since November 2018.

Donny won there 3-1 in the EFL Trophy last season then, earlier this campaign, Barnsley won 2-1 away in the league thanks to goals by Vimal Yognanathan and Davis Keillor-Dunn.