Bristol Rovers v Barnsley FC: Why Darrell Clarke is on the case of his Reds players more than ever before

And you could not be wider of the mark.

Clarke's Reds side head to one of his former clubs in rude health and chasing their fifth successive league victory to consolidate their recent gains and progression into the play-off positions.

The Oakwell chief plainly wants more and has been on the case of his players during their fortnight-long break from competitive action due to the weather.

Clarke, who picks from strength today, especially in terms of his defensive options with Marc Roberts and Josh Earl fit again, said: “Complacency is the root of all evil for me and it’s something I have seen in our games a little bit.

"I am very harsh on the lads and although we won the Crawley game and won it pretty comfortably, I was not happy with the last 25 minutes. We still have to do plenty of work at this club because I don’t want that complacency, but pure focus for 95 minutes in games.

"These are a group of players where, individually, there’s some really good talent in there, but it’s a group where I feel I always need to be ‘on’ and I will always be on at them. I don’t want standards to drop and you cannot be complacent in your work. We have to remain focused."

Barnsley are on their best run of the season, but have previously been on half-decent runs on two occasions in autumn before falling away. It's something Clarke is again aware of.

On his side's streaky form over the course of the season, he added: "To be honest, I should have expected that because you come in and are assessing and there have been a lot of changes from last season.

"You only really find out about players when you play in competitive games. How do they act when they are on a good run - and on a bad run? How can you handle the pressure? You find out all the mental aspects of it when you are in the heat of the battle.

"One of the pleasing things for me after the Leyton Orient game is that the lads’ response has been absolutely outstanding. We have to continue with that and make sure it is not streaky and keep that consistency."