Conor Hourihane thought the first goal against Doncaster Rovers was always going to decide the result and admits they are now set to finish in mid-table after a 1-0 loss to their near neighbours.

The visitors scored a penalty midway through the second half for a pull by Corey O’Keeffe on Hakeeb Adelakun.

Hourihane told the Chronicle: “There wasn’t much in it at all. The penalty completely swang the game. It looked a little bit soft.

“If anyone scored the first goal I thought that was likely to be the winner.

“In the second half we were a bit better and had more control. I don’t think either team peppered each other goal but It was one of those really tight Yorkshire derbies.

“Some of our players were on their last legs, like Didzy (David McGoldrick) for example, 38 years old, and yet he has to play every single game of every single minute. It's obscene.”

The Reds are now ten points off the play-off places and eight clear of the relegation zone.

Asked if he felt Barnsley would finish in mid-table, Hourihane said: “Yeah, and I'm absolutely fine with saying it. But we've got to be really realistic about where we are. I completely understand that we want to go for play-offs, we want to achieve top six, but where we are as a football club right now and the size of squad and lot of youngsters and Davo (Davis Keillor-Dunn) leaving in January.

“We can all see it and push for it and that's what we all want to do. But we all know really where we're at.”

Tom Bradshaw felt an issue in his hamstring in training yesterday so missed the game.

Hourihane said: “He will have to get a scan. We hope it's very small. He's had a history of hamstring injuries over the last kind of course of his career because he's explosive. He's quite a powerful boy. So between him and the medical staff, it wasn't really worth risking.

“We're hoping he will be back for the next game once the scan comes back and it's not obviously the worst thing.”

Winger Reyes Cleary replaced Bradshaw up front.

“We had a big gameplan on how we wanted to play and we don't have another striker. So we wanted to stick with the same gameplan, but create maybe something different that may work.

“Obviously Bradders has got pace. Reyes has got pace, it's an unnatural position to him, but he did it at West Brom for a spell when he was there.

“Could Reyes create those runs in behind to give Didzy space to drop down and connect the game? We didn't feel it really worked in the first half, switched to then second half, had a little bit more control.”