Barnsley FC v Fleetwood Town: Conor Hourihane out to keep the home fires burning

Hourihane has confirmed Jack Shepherd, Jon Russell and Neil Farrugia will be involved against Fleetwood Town as his team look to build on back-to-back victories to start the League One campaign.

But this is also the second of three consecutive home games, and after winning just six Oakwell league matches in 2024-25, rebuilding a positive mindset there is important to. After the way the crowd responded when their side came from 2-0 down to beat Burton Albion on Saturday, perhaps “maintaining” is a better word.

"I thought the fans were fantastic," said Hourihane. "They brought energy, they brought enthusiasm, they brought a connection and they brought their voices.

"They stuck with the team, whether it was 1-0 down or 2-0 down and I thought they were a credit to themselves, to the club, to the team and to me over the course of the game.

"They got their just rewards for sticking with us and hopefully that will be a start of a real positive connection between the team and fans.

"We need to win games of football to keep that connection going.

"I feel like you win games of football from Monday to Friday with the work that you do and the preparation that you put into games. It's the preparation that goes into games that give you the real chance.

"We just want to win as many games of football as we can and see where it takes us. I think that's really, really important.

"That's the mindset and the mentality I want in the football club, a winning environment.

"So, it's important that we go out on Wednesday night and try and put in a performance to do that.

"It's absolutely full throttle into this game, just like any other. It's a big message.

"For the people who may have been disappointed so far with their minutes it's an opportunity – impress me, show me why you should be in the team.

"And it's down to them then to perform off the back of that."