Barnsley FC boss Neill Collins responds to charges that his side are too conservative and will Fabio Jalo get a starting chance?

The fifth-placed Reds head into Saturday’s League One game against Reading on the back of a disappointing return of just two wins from their past eight matches, which has ended their hopes of gatecrashing the top two.

Instead, the main current focus is nailing down play-off participation with victory over Reading - to avoid a potentially nervy end to the regular season in their last three matches.

The fifth-placed Reds are currently six points above the side currently just outside of the play-off positions in Lincoln City, with four matches left to play.

Collins’s side head into the Royals test on the back of successive league defeats, at Stevenage and Reading, while they have not won in their last four matches at Oakwell.

Their recent form has certainly irked many followers, with perceived style issues being a stick to beat Collins with of late, with the Reds’ patient, deliberate build-up from the back being one source of conjecture.

Collins said: "Everyone has got their own opinion who follows and watches the team.

“It’s hard (for everyone) to agree and there’s a lot of what we do that needs to be discussed.

"I would say we are the third or fourth top goal-scorers in the league and we are one of the teams who creates the most chances in the league.

"I want our teams to play with freedom and I want my team to do a bit better.

"My job is to get the best out of the players we have got and I think one of our biggest strengths is playing through lines and our midfield has been excellent at that. But equally, it’s about getting a balance.

"Would I like us to go forward earlier (at times), yes. But we have played against a lot of low blocks recently and putting the ball on top of them (rival defences) at times plays into them (their strengths).

"It’s something we are always trying to assess. We want to produce football that constantly excites the fans and gets them off their seats.

"Right now, we aren’t doing that as much as we’d like. But I still think we are creating chances and we’d like to create more and turn them into (more) goals and we’d be more happy. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do that.”

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With Barnsley needing a spark from somewhere at the minute, there is a school of thought suggesting that exciting young teenage forward Fabio Jalo is deserving of a go from the off – and that it is something worth looking at.

The Portuguese under-19 international, 18, back available following a knee injury, was very unlucky not to record his first league goal after coming on as a substitute at Charlton, with the Reds management angered that a goal was ruled out for a marginal offside.

Collins added: "With Fabio, he’s been away on international (duty) and he’s just coming back to full fitness. I think, in his two substitute appearances, he has shown some of his quality. He’s really unfortunate not to score his first league goal at Charlton.

"Everyone, as you can imagine right now, is in my thoughts and what’s going to be important is not just the people who start, but those who come off the bench.”