Barnsley have given themselves a fighting chance of staying up in the Championship after a significant upturn in form under Poya Asbaghi.

The Tykes have performed terribly to pick up just 28 points from 37 games, but due to a run of three wins, two draws and one loss in their last six they are now just two points from safety.

If it was not for points deductions to Derby County and Reading, similarly to how the Tykes survived at Wigan Athletic's expense in 2019/20, Barnsley would still be right up against it but as things stand they look set to catch the Royals before the season is out.

Barnsley and Reading face off at Oakwell on 2nd April just one match after the Championship resumes following the international break.

FLW's Barnsley fan pundit Joe Beardsall (Member of Red All Over) believes that Barnsley will pull off a great escape and is enjoying a far more positive atmosphere around the club.

Speaking to Football League World, Beardsall said: "I always say football is a simple game.

"If you've got the right mentality, you can achieve anything, earlier in the season Barnsley looked completely deflated, they looked like the negativity on and off the pitch had got to them, they didn't look up for the fight and they looked like they felt sorry for themselves.

"Now, they look full of confidence, they're fighting like mad, they're enjoying their football, they're having a bit of a smile and at the end there were these beautiful scenes against Bristol City.

"They can celebrate with the fans, and you can just feel that dark cloud has lifted off Oakwell now completely.

"We're fully behind them, as we have been all season, but we just wanted to see effort and commitment, determination and grit, that's what we expect from a Barnsley side.

"We've not been saying that for a lot of this season, but now we are seeing it, and we're getting the rewards.

"I believe that, looking at Reading, they are desperate to get relegated, yes they got a good point against Bournemouth, I'll give them credit for that, but recently they've not been in a good way.

"I think that we can definitely catch them, we've got to keep this momentum going, it all does ride on that game between Barnsley and Reading, that is going to be huge in a couple of weeks.

"For me, I do believe we will stay up, we have pulled off a great escape before and this for me would be the greatest of great escapes, because we did look dead and buried."