Barnsley v Lincoln City: Conor Hourihane's in-depth conversation with 'relentless' Davis Keillor-Dunn

His goalscoring numbers precede him. His strike against former club Mansfield Town on Boxing Day was his third in four matches and took his season's tally to 14 in all competitions.

The Wearsider is seeking to sign off an excellent 2025 on the personal front in fitting fashion versus Lincoln City on Monday evening.

This calendar year has seen him find the net on 25 occasions so far.

He has also scored at least one goal in every month when league games have been played in 2025, while his availability record is also been outstanding.

The forward made 44 appearances last term and has turned out 28 times so far in 2025-26.

Alongside being a goalscorer, Keillor-Dunn also possesses other key talismanic qualities in the view of head coach Conor Hourihane.

His footballing intelligence would figure highly on any list. Having turned 28 last month and now being in his peak years as a player, he is also emerging as a leader.

With the January transfer window open for business next week, Barnsley followers will be desperate for it to pass off with him still being at Oakwell when it closes.

On Keillor-Dunn, who has shown a happy knack of finding the net in the Reds' Christmas and New Year fixtures since joining at the end of the 2024 summer window, Hourihane told The Yorkshire Post: "Davo's an amazing guy.

"I think, day-to-day, he's so bubbly and brings energy in around the building.

"He brings that in his game. The way he presses and the work he does for the team, leading up the front all the time. He's always top of the running. He's relentless all the time.

"Davo won't mind me saying this, but me and him had a real in-depth conversation (last week).

"He's 28 and he wants to become that leader in the group.

"It's not (just) how can he become that leader, but how can he learn from the extra experience.

"For me, it's also how can I learn from the extra (managerial) experience too and we can lean on each other and help each other through and become better and learn from it.

"I'm a big, big fan of him. To go with everything that he brings day-to-day and on the pitch, he's ultimately a goalscorer as well, which is priceless at this level."

While Keillor-Dunn is very much the leader of the pack up front for Barnsley, with his input proving to be of immense importance for the second successive campaign for the Oakwell outfit, the development of a number of the club's younger players had been the other stand-out feature of the outgoing year for Barnsley.

Several of the club's academy products have been blooded at first-team level in 2025. Two, in the shape of good friends Jono Bland and Vimal Yoganathan have become regulars in Hourihane's starting XI, with several others having also been handed opportunities.

It bodes well for the future at a club which has traditionally prided itself on its youth policy.

After a few quiet years, the conveyor belt of talent from academy to first-team level is fully operational again.

For Hourihane, it perhaps represents his most significant achievement so far since being handed the reins in the spring.

He acknowledged: "Yes, I've been happy with this. I think it's really important for clubs like ourselves. Historically, there's always been academy players come through.

"You look at the ones in our squad right now. And you look at the ones that were here when I was a player last time. And that's something that I want to bring back.

"And I feel like that's clearly there. Leo Farrell's been in and around it a little bit as well, while Connor Barratt has also been in and around it a little bit.

"I think it's really important for clubs like ourselves to look at the academy and bring people through. If, obviously, they've earned it and are good enough as well."

Barnsley face a high-flying Lincoln side who have won on four of their last five visits to Oakwell in all competitions, with the Imps triumphing 2-0 in an EFL Trophy fixture in November.

Both sides had contrasting fortunes on Boxing Day, with the Reds aiming to get back in supporters' good books after letting a two-goal lead slip in a 3-2 home reverse to Mansfield. The Imps secured a dramatic late win at Stockport County.

Barnsley have scored an impressive 20 times in their nine home league matches thus far in 25-26, but a concession of 14 goals - with just one clean sheet recorded on home soil - is a far less gratifying statistic and will need to improve if the club are to harden their top-six credentials.