Barnsley were looking forward to a season back in the Championship ahead of the 2016/17 campaign after playoff final victory the year prior.

Manager Paul Heckingbottom had just delivered an unprecedented double winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy before their Wembley return saw them see off Millwall to head back to the second tier.

Building a team for a prolonged stay in the Championship began in earnest.

Ten players came in between the start of July, and the middle of August before a signing that was welcomed by many of the club’s supporters was confirmed on August 30, 2016.

Adam Armstrong arrived on a six-month loan from fellow Championship side Newcastle United having just signed a new four-year deal with his parent club.

The temporary stint at Oakwell came on the back of a highly-successful spell at Coventry City the season before, scoring 20 goals in the third tier.

And it was a deal that excited plenty of the Tykes’ supporters.

After making two appearances in the Championship for his parent club, Heckingbottom pulled of somewhat of a coup to get the striker to the Yorkshire outfit.

Making the move to Oakwell, Armstrong made an immediate impact, scoring on his debut in the 2-1 win over Preston North End.

Two more goals would be added to his season’s tally during his initial six-month move to Barnsley.

His goals and performances would see the newly-promoted side eighth in the division after 25 matches – a thoroughly impressive return after promotion the previous year.

On January 5, 2017, it was announced the striker had extended his loan until the end of the 2016/17 season after an impressive spell at Oakwell.

It was news that once again left the Barnsley supporters delighted.

Living up to his previous heroics at Coventry was always going to be a tough ask and three more goals were added to his tally to leave him on a total of five for the season in 37 appearances for the Tykes.

As well as registering four assists, giving him a total goal involvement of nine for the year.

It was a step up a division and class from what he had experienced before and did well considering the opposition he came up against.

It was a relatively successful loan spell for a player who was in a team making a return to the Championship as they finished 14th that year.

The initial reaction was overly positive, and it was indeed a loan spell that reflected the hype.