Carlton Morris was buoyant in his praise and expectation for Barnsley to compete at the top end of the Championship once again next season, after their remarkable run to the play-off semi-finals in 2020/21. The 25-year-old expressed his view of how the team are shaping up in an interview with the Yorkshire Post.

He said: "There is no limit to what we are capable of. We have got a good manager and coaching team around us and I have faith in the boys to go and crack on.

"You don’t know what can happen. Listening to the gaffer and the way he will implement things this season, I am sure there will be tweaks here and there and we will implement them as players and give our all every week. I can only see us being better at home with the fans behind us at Oakwell as well."

The Tykes started very slowly in 2020/21 leading to the departure of Gerhard Struber, if they can hit the ground running under Markus Schopp they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Morris continued: "You look at the England team with the togetherness and camaraderie in their training camp and it is not too dissimilar from what we did last season and we had that sort of changing room here.

"It is good socially as well here and we feel comfortable. When I joined, I felt comfortable within a week and I have never had that so quickly and it all plays into the success you have on the pitch."

It has been a summer of change at Oakwell with five outgoings and one incoming so far on the pitch. Markus Schopp has big shoes to fill after Valerien Ismael took up at a new challenge at West Bromwich Albion. There is still plenty of business to be done.

The Verdict

Morris has good reason for his enthusiasm, despite Alex Mowatt and Michael Sollbauer moving on to pastures new this is still a squad easily capable of competing in the top half of the Championship. If they can get on a hot streak at the right time as they did last term, and not be so slow to get out of the blocks there is no reason why Tykes' fans cannot dare to dream of getting into the top six once again this season.

Some experience could go along way, there is currently only two players over the age of 26 in their ranks and none over 28. Barnsley have a clear identity and should kick on from last season, continuing to be a surprise package.