Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel has revealed that he went out for dinner with former Arsenal midfielder and current Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson with a post on social media.

The Tykes boss shared this photo with his followers on his personal Instagram account earlier today.

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The 44-year-old added a message saying that he had a "great time" and "got a lot of insights" from the former Premier League midfielder.

Stendel is currently in his first managerial role in England with Barnsley having only previously managed Hannover 96 in Germany.

He took charge at Oakwell in the summer following the club's relegation from the Championship and has enjoyed an impressive first season with the team.

Barnsley are currently second in the League One table, five points behind leaders Luton Town and four points ahead of third-placed Portsmouth.

Stendel's side are all but guaranteed a play-off place, but stand a great chance of securing an immediate return to the Championship via automatic promotion - although fourth-placed Sunderland are five points behind Barnsley with two games in hand.

Barnsley will be looking to take another step towards the Championship when they face Coventry City at the weekend.

Is has been an impressive first season in English football for Stendel and he will be hoping to finish it off with promotion.

It is good to see the German enjoying himself with Merson and he know doubt would have learned a thing or two from the Sky Sports pundit.

Barnsley fans will be hoping their head coach can keep his focus on the League One promotion race and the weekend's game against Coventry.