Barnsley FC v Wigan Athletic: Darrell Clarke's clear message to those players currently starting - and those who are not

The Barnsley head coach addressed some positional issues during the previous international break and some selection calls have borne fruit.

For Clarke, what has also yielded an upturn on the pitch has been the daily intensity in training and the Reds chief has stressed that he won't tolerate any vestiges of slackening off in that regard.

Clarke said: "In the last five or six games, there haven’t been many changes as the performances have been very good and stronger.

"The message for the players in that team is to keep that shirt and keep their intensity in training and games and keep improving.

"The message to the boys that aren’t is to be patient and work even harder. Because I don’t think there’s many outside of the 11 who can have a ‘case’.

"If we were losing games and not performing, they’d have more of a stronger case. But I think they understand that the team is playing really well and players have got to make sure that they are in top shape for when they get the opportunities.

"If you look at Ben Killip for example, how patient has he had to be? He’s done really well over the past few games. Jon Russell, Georgie Gent, Kelechi (Nwakali)?

"That’s why I see the ‘non-negotiables’ to players are if you are not training hard, when they do come into the team, they are miles off. "You can be sulky, frustrated and disappointed if you are not in the 11. But if you are not training right, you won’t be training with the group, you will be training with the '21s', it’s as simple as that."

With back-to-back home league games coming up, talk has centred on Barnsley getting some early-season homesickness firmly out of their system. For his part, Clarke is keeping things rather simple in his messaging.

He continued: "I look at it as the more people mention it, I want my players to play with no fear.

"The nature of the footballing world now is it’s very opinionated and people want to go on about it, which is understandable. Players have to remain focused on what we are trying to do on the pitch and try and improve that and not get fazed by it.

"There’s always going to be times in football when things go against you, but it’s the response.. We have to respond well at home when things don’t always go our way."