EOGHAN O’Connell is set to come up against his former manager Lee Clark on Saturday and is hoping for a win that will all-but end the chances of him being relegated from League One for the third time in his career.

The Reds are due to visit near neighbours Rotherham United who recently appointed manager Lee Clark, who signed O’Connell for Bury in 2017.

The 30-year-old centre-back told the Chronicle: “I played under him a long time ago.

“I was actually injured for quite a lot of the time he was managing.

“I didn’t play that many games, but I got on really well with him.

“It’s nice to see him back in and I know he’s come in there quite late in the season, so it’ll be tough for him. It’ll be good to see him, he’s a good guy.”

Rotherham are third-bottom, 11 points off safety.

O’Connell said: “No matter what the positions of both teams, it would always be a tense game and a battle.

“And we know that going there, we’ll have to be up for it and we’ll have to be ready to do all facets of the game, we’ll have to try and get a result.”

Barnsley are currently five points clear of the relegation zone and head coach Conor Hourihane has said they need three or four more points to be safe.

They are winless in six.

O’Connell said: “It’s not really been discussed in the dressing room.

“I think we’re just focused on trying to win the next game.

“Because Exeter won at the weekend, they get a bit closer to everyone.

“Before that game, we weren’t saying that, so we’re just focused on winning the next game. We’ll be doing the same going to Saturday, trying to perform better and trying to win.”

O’Connell – although known for three successive promotions in the last three seasons with Wrexham – has been relegated from League One twice in the past, with Bury in 2018 and Rochdale in 2021.

He said: “I think the Bury one, we were down quite early.

“I was injured for a lot of that season, so I can’t really remember what it felt like in terms of being in amongst it.

“The time I went down at Rochdale was really disappointing.

“I just remember the feeling going into those games that you’re almost desperate to win.

“We’ve got to have that feeling now. We’ve got to find a way to get a positive result.

“And first of all, just try and perform a bit better.”

Asked if confidence is low, O’Connell said: “I don’t think that’s really something that gets discussed, but obviously it’s something you can feel around the place. We’ve not won for five or six games.

“So I suppose you could say that, maybe in the way we’re playing, but I don’t think you can allow that to kind of creep in.

“I think we’ve got enough experienced lads to try and obviously guide that and try and bring that level back up.”

O’Connell has played 19 games, 17 from the start, since signing as a free agent in the January transfer window.

He is yet to keep a clean sheet for the Reds, who have not kept one for 25 matches since December at Peterborough.