Barnsley FC face goalkeeping decision after Brad Collins completes his move to Championship outfit Coventry City as Reds are linked with Bradford City keeper Harry Lewis

The former Chelsea custodian is well known to Coventry assistant boss Adi Viveash from their time at Stamford Bridge, with the Midlanders having targeted him to provide competition for number one Ben Wilson.

The departure of Collins means that the Reds will have a new face in goal for the 2023-24 campaign, after losing out to Charlton Athletic in the bid to sign Harry Isted on a permanent basis earlier this summer.

Isted and Collins split the keeping duties last season at Oakwell.

In a separate development, Bradford City keeper Harry Lewis has emerged as a target although Barnsley would face a fight on their hands to lure the 25-year-old to South Yorkshire should they push ahead with a move.

Lewis excelled in goal in a breakthrough season for City last season.

The former Southampton stopper has another year remaining on his deal with the Bantams, who have a further year’s option.

In terms of current keeping options, New Zealander Jamie Searle made just one senior appearance, from the bench, last term for the Reds.

Barnsley brought in teenager keeper Adam Hayton in the January window and have also signed Hartlepool United custodian Ben Killip in the current close season.

As it stands, Killip and Searle are likely to be fighting it out to become the club’s established first-choice number one.

Collins endured a frustrating second half of last season after suffering a quad injury and then losing his place to loanee Isted.

But the Southampton-born player, 26, who joined the club in the summer of 2019, had proved a consistent figure prior to that and was one of the Reds’ more dependable performers over the past few seasons.

A clause was activated in Collins’s existing contract in January to keep in at Oakwell until next summer, but with his long-term future unclear and his deal having less than 12 months to run, he has been allowed to move on.

Speaking about his future in May, shortly before the play-off final, Collins said: “That’s down to me and the club when the season is over. We will have talks about things like that.

"It is part and parcel of being a keeper, when you are out (of the side), you have to stay focused and maintain it as you never know when you are called upon.

"Crazy things happen in football and you never know what is around the corner.

“It was one of those things. I’d have loved to have played, especially at Wembley. But you cannot control being injured. H (Isted) came in and did really well and he kept the shirt, fair play to him."