Barnsley 1 Chesterfield 1: Barnsley fans can rest assured that Tykes will battle to the end – Ramage

The mere fact that mathematically they can still make up the seven-point difference between themselves and Saturday’s Oakwell opponents is one motivating factor.

Throw in a fixture list that sees them play Peterborough, Bradford and Rochdale in their final three games – all teams chasing the top six – and the gap does not look impossible to bridge.

Another motivation is the perceived debt to Reds fans themselves, who by Ramage’s own admission, have endured a rollercoaster of emotions in a season in which a club legend failed to make lightning strike twice, and what looked to be a season of frustration has turned out to be one full of hope.

That hope may ultimately prove fruitless, but Ramage insists not without a fight.

The third and final motivation is an altogether more personal one, with Ramage – like a number of players at this stage of the season – playing for his future.

“It’s a time of the year where you’ve got to earn a contract. I’ve got a wife and two kids to feed,” said the central defender, 31, who was loaned out to Barnsley by Crystal Palace in the summer and knows he has no future with the resurgent London club.

“So I have to perform well to be able to give them an opportunity.

“I’m playing for my future, and hopefully it’s here.

“Even if not, I’ll be giving my all to get four victories, just as much as anyone.

“Everyone’s got different agendas regarding the stage of their careers, but as a group we’ve got to come together, for the fans as well. It’s been a rollercoaster ride this season but they got behind us on Saturday.

“We owe it to them to have a strong finish.

“The belief in the dressing room is we’re not mathematically out of it, and until then we’ve still got to have the belief we can do it.

“There’s not one person in that dressing room who is giving up on the hope of sneaking in at the end.

“If and when it does end, we’ll still not give up on the season. We need to finish strong so the club can build for next season.”

By half-time on Saturday it appeared as if planning for next season would be starting instantly.

Barnsley trailed to Jay O’Shea’s smart 25th-minute strike that sliced across Adam Davies and tucked inside the far post.

Chesterfield had looked every inch a team brimming with confidence, their settled team having a better understanding of each other as they drove through Barnsley’s midfield.

They would have been further ahead had Sam Clucas been more composed when clean through 90 seconds in.

Barnsley’s only response was via set-pieces, with Martin Cranie stooping to head against the cross-bar.

Knowing they had 45 minutes to save their season, as defeat would have put Chesterfield 10 points out of reach and sixth place out of touch, Barnsley went more direct in the second half.

“I want to win playing nice football but you have to play winning football,” said Reds boss Lee Johnson.

“Our best chance of getting back into the game was working the diagonal up to the big guys and working people around that.”

That route worked in the 62nd minute, with the advanced Ramage collecting a knock down and scuffing a cross into the box, which Sam Hird failed to cut out and Sam Winnall pounced upon to equalise.

“It was a cross, I was just sticking it back into the area and hopefully someone would get on the end of it, and lucky for us, Sam did,” laughed Ramage, of a centre-half’s version of a fizzing centre.

Winnall had a chance to win it 15 minutes from time but volleyed straight at Tommy Lee, who proved a resilient goalkeeper.

Equally, Jimmy Ryan, one of two deep-lying central midfielders for Chesterfield and the man who set up O’Shea for the opener after Conor Hourihane had slipped in possession, had a chance to end Barnsley’s season only to fire wide.

“I thought we deserved a second goal,” added Ramage, who was making his first start under Johnson after suffering injury, his previous game being a goalscoring performance in the defeat to Fleetwood that cost Danny Wilson his job. “I had to bide my time before getting back in.

“Seeing the back four do well and keeping clean sheets, from a professional point of view, was something I enjoyed.

“You want that to happen because if and when you get the opportunity you’re coming into a side that’s doing well.

“Cranie and Lewin Nyatanga would have been a bit miffed if I’d have been thrust straight back in.

“I’m old enough and wise enough to understand the situation.”

Now Ramage and Barnsley have four games to extend their season.

“I think it’s probably still five per cent,” said Johnson of their play-off chances.

“It was a good set of results if we’d have won against Chesterfield, which leaves us all a little bit frustrated.”