DANIEL Stendel is a passionate individual, a good guy and capable coach who cares for a club a fair way from his homeland in Barnsley.

His hurt at the Reds' alarming autumn statistics is obvious and not the sort of thing that can be manufactured. Six successive defeats in all competitions and eight losses in 10 winless matches and counting.

The 52-year-old admits to experiencing one of the toughest times in a coaching career which has seen him work in England, Scotland, France and his native Germany.

Despite Barnsley's hard numbers, Stendel, who engaged with similarly frustrated fans after the Reds' latest loss at Reading, still sees hope for his young group.

Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel. Photo: Tony Johnson.

placeholder image — Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel. Photo: Tony Johnson.

The Reds' last three defeats have seen them lose by the odd goal in three after taking the lead twice. Their demise has been down to moments of game management more than anything. Stendel is hankering for a catalyst.

He said: "I have been in a situation like this in France twice, but I have a much different feeling here because I can see we're not so far away from the switch.

"This lets me be positive every day. What I can see is that we aren't missing much. But at the moment, we need to work hard to take the final step and remain positive, even in this difficult situation for the club. The owners and the supporters are staying behind me."

Ahead of today's tough looking fixture against an in-form Oxford side, Barnsley find themselves second-from-bottom, with two wins in their opening 11 league fixtures.

Barnsley captain Cameron McGeehan. Picture: Tony Johnson.

After flirting with relegation trouble at times over the past two seasons, the portents of this campaign suggest it could well be a bonafide survival battle this time around - and a scramble for fifty points.

Stendel is not adopting that mindset at the minute.

He continued: "At the moment, it's about showing what we need to play good games and win games. This is for me the biggest step at the moment and I work only for that and not look so much in the future because I think this is really important for developing the progress, especially with our squad now.

"At the moment, I don't look at it like that (50 points). It (winning a game playing well) can bring a big movement in this group and this is what I believe. This is the reason that I come in positive every day and use my energy in this group to change it."