Paul Heckingbottom has the '100 per cent' backing of all the Barnsley players to be the next permanent head coach says captain Conor Hourihane.

The 25-year-old Irishman said: "We all speak very highly of Paul. He's a very, very knowledgeable coach, puts on fantastic training sessions, he's a football man and the lads all respect him.  We are all very excited to work with Hecky. He has been with us all season so nothing really changes, it's just a different voice on the training pitch.

"I would back Paul 100 per cent for the full-time job and that is the word from all the squad. The change in coach will have no impact whatsoever on our form and I think we showed that against Bury on Sunday (a 3-0 win)."

Heckingbottom has replaced Lee Johnson who worked a lot with Hourihane to make sure he could play in various different formations which Johnson claimed would make him more likely to climb the leagues.

Hourihane said: "It's been a mix of emotions this week. We heard rumours within the club that Lee might be leaving then we had it confirmed to us at the same time as the fans did on Friday.

"Lee has been very good with me, making me captain and working hard with me on the training pitch to make me better. So I was a little bit disappointed personally when he left. But that's football.

"He couldn't turn down Bristol City because he has an attachment to that club. I wish him the best of luck. There's a good buzz about the squad and a real togetherness, even more so since Lee has left."

Hourihane has had to adapt to a new head coach just as he has to get used to a new central midfield partner with Josh Brownhill replacing fellow loanee Ben Pearson who has now joined Preston.

"I was disappointed when Ben left like I was with Lee. But Josh has come in so easily to his job and so has Hecky. It's been easy to move on."

Hourihane – who has eight goals and 12 assists this season – admits he is surprised by the winning streak which has put Barnsley five points off the top six.

"If you said to us seven games ago, when we were in the relegation zone, that we would win all of them, get to Wembley and be on the verge of doing something great in the league, we would have thought 'no chance'. But anything can change with momentum in football and hopefully it keeps going for us."