Barnsley FC head coach Gerhard Struber on the 'win-win' situation with Hull City winger Mallik Wilks

BARNSLEY head coach Gerhard Struber believes that the sight of Hull City loanee Mallik Wilks doing well in East Yorkshire is a 'win-win situation' - despite the fact the Tigers are now becoming Championship relegation rivals to the Reds.

Former Leeds United player Wilks, 21, whose return to the fray for the Tigers on Saturday lunch-time is a welcome boost ahead of the game against his hometown club, joined Hull on loan in January for the rest of the season after failing to feature under Struber.

Wilks signed a four-year deal when he joined Barnsley - ahead of Hull - last summer and Reds head coach Struber is open-minded about his future.

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Wilks, who enjoyed an impressive season-long loan under Hull head coach Grant McCann at Doncaster Rovers, has made a good start to life with the Tigers, netting three goals in his past outings and provided a rare chink of light following the sales of Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki.

Mallik Wilks. PICTURE: JONATHAN GAWTHORPE.Mallik Wilks. PICTURE: JONATHAN GAWTHORPE.
Mallik Wilks. PICTURE: JONATHAN GAWTHORPE.

Under the terms of his loan, he was ineligible for Wednesday's game with his parent club, but is available again this weekend.

On Wilks's future, Struber said: "We will see. Right now he plays for Hull, he is happy and he has scored.

“Right now, we have a win-win situation. He plays and he can improve his style and this is good for everyone.

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"We will see what is the best situation (in the future). I see many games of him. He has made a good improvement and this was the right decision for him to go to the other club.

"He gets game time and here in Barnsley it is not so easy for him to play. With Browny (Jacob Brown) and Conor Chaplin, we have very good strikers and it is not so easy for him to change his mindset to my game style."

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