Irish central defender Kevin Long says he has joined Barnsley to get fit and help the Reds up the table.

The 25-year-old, who has joined on loan until December 19 from Burnley, has been struggling with a knee injury picked up last season. He sees his temporary switch to Oakwell as a chance to get fit and also help out the struggling Reds.

Long said: "I've been out ten months but I'm now back training hard.  It will be good to get out and get some games and get fresh again. Thankfully I got the option to come here. I've been craving to go out on loan and I jumped at the opportunity.

"It's a good fit for me. I'll only look to the future with this team now and hopefully we'll win a few games. If I can help the club while I'm here then I'm hoping to do that."

Head coach Lee Johnson says that he needed more competition for the central defensive spots in order to get the best out of Alfie Mawson, Lewin Nyatanga and Marc Roberts. Johnson said: "Some players haven't been performing.  If you are not performing, at a big club like this, you are always at the mercy of others coming in and taking your place."

Long has had loan spells at Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Portsmouth. Johnson said: "He's a big strong lad.  He had a good start to his career with a couple of good loan moves but unfortunately got injured for Burnley at Newcastle. He's a good player who is composed on the ball and will be a good addition to our squad. 

"He had pretty much a full pre-season and played six or seven under 21 games. His knee is healed and he's ready to go. He will be playing at centre half. We've conceded too many goals and we need to shore up that back line so we have bought in Aidy White and Kevin."