Barnsley secure Championship status after completing first double over Blackburn in 18 years '“ 2-0 at Oakwell

Manager Paul Heckingbottom hailed it as an “unbelievable achievement” but has set his team further targets in the remaining five games.

He said: “I’d love to have all those players (who left in January), plus the ones we’ve got but it’s not the case so you can’t dwell on it. However, in terms of the money we’ve spent and the budget we’ve got, it’s an unbelievable achievement. If there was a league table for points per pound, we may be top.

“I’m delighted, but we’ve also set the players a little target of finishing with as many wins as losses as a minimum, plus (positive) goal difference, so we’re on course and, you know, if we do that, we’ll probably be the best Barnsley team since the one that got into the play-offs in 2000.

“I thought it was important that they realised what they’re doing compared to what’s gone before and they’ve got a real chance to put their name down as one of the best Barnsley teams.”

The Tykes put the game to bed as a contest within the first 10 minutes, thanks to Marc Roberts’s fourth of the season and Marley Watkins’s piledriver that was adjudged to have crossed the line after hitting the underside of the crossbar.

Results elsewhere mean that this result, Blackburn’s third straight defeat and seventh without a win, leaves them four points adrift of safety.

Blackburn Rovers: Steele, Nyambe, Brown, Hoban, Williams, Mahoney, Lowe, Guthrie (Graham 46), Bennett, Emnes (Conway 65), Lucas Joao, Graham (Gallagher 53). Unused substitutes: Feeney, Ward, Akpan, Raya.

Barnsley: Davies, Janko, Roberts, MacDonald, Jones, Hedges (Bradshaw 69), Moncur (Mowatt 90), James, Scowen, Kent (Armstrong 88), Watkins. Unused substitutes: Lee, Townsend, Adam Jackson, Bird.

Referee: O Langford (W Midlands).