Leon Wobschall: Pragmatic approach for Barnsley means fans will have to wait for their '˜cosmopolitan flair'

The crowd and attention at Oakwell for the arrival of Burton Albion this evening may be considerably less in terms of national and regional exposure than at the Lane in mid-January. It is not a Steel City derby, but the stakes could not be higher for new Reds head coach Jose Morais.

The same can be said for St Andrew’s on Saturday and at the KCOM Stadium next Tuesday.

Good games against three immediate relegation rivals in Burton, Birmingham City and Hull City, many would suggest for the Reds. Only if you win though.

The bottom of the Championship looks particularly grim this year. Success, or failure, is highly likely to come down to each side’s fortunes against each other in a mini ‘league of death’.

As it stands, six points separate seven teams from Burton, propping up the rest, to seventh-bottom Reading, with Birmingham, Bolton and Sunderland all in it up to their necks along with the Brewers and our very own Hull and Barnsley.

Tuesday evening promises to be telling with Barnsley welcoming Burton and Sunderland heading to Bolton.

Hull’s recent surprise win at Nottingham Forest has, at least, provided them with a potential lightbulb moment. With four of their next six matches being on home soil, the mood will probably be a tad improved out in the East Riding than it was. Not too much, mind.

For Morais, it is all about the here and now. He can at least be assuaged by the knowledge that Barnsley’s form against their immediate rivals offers some encouragement. Of their six league wins this season, four have arrived against the sides around them; a double over Sunderland and victories over Burton and Birmingham.

A long-time acolyte of Jose Mourinho, expect Morais to be a pragmatic results man to the core. Style is secondary when you are in Barnsley’s parlous position.

Morais may have visited Barcelona’s acclaimed La Masia academy during his time away from frontline management to further broaden his footballing knowledge, but it is now horses for courses. Idealism is a dangerous concept when you are down among the dead men towards the bottom of the table.

A few scruffy Championship home victories at Oakwell, where the Reds have triumphed on a pitiful three occasions in the past 12 months, is surely the first port of call. Exotic cosmopolitan flair has no place at this time of year.

If you want entertainment, go to the circus as one former manager of yesterday-year once remarked. The fancy stuff can come later. It is off limits in a relegation scrap in late February.

Barnsley, as now departed former head coach Paul Heckingbottom correctly acknowledged on several occasions this season, have not come out on the right side of enough ugly games this season. Their wins have invariably arrived when they have played pretty well and hit the heights. They have failed to get to grips with the art of playing modestly and winning at times.

Winning with a certain amount of functionality is classic Mourinho. For Barnsley’s sake, let’s hope it’s classic Morais.