Going nowhere: Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom laughs off links with Nottingham Forest

The head coach has been strongly linked with the Nottingham Forest job, having done a great job in taking Barnsley from bottom of League One to the edge of the Championship play-offs in just over 12 months.

After losing three of his star players this month, Heckingbottom could have been forgiven for being frustrated and fancying a job at a club with more spending power than the Tykes.

Sam Winnall, James Bree and Conor Hourihane have all been sold by Barnsley in January, but Heckingbottom remains committed to his hometown club.

Asked about the Forest link, Heckingbottom said: “To be fair, I get more hassle from my mates about that than I do players leaving.

“It’s more things to put up with, but to be honest I don’t even get time to think about it because of all the stuff going on with the players.”

But if Heckingbottom feels he has problems at Oakwell, the task facing a new manager at the City Ground looks even more challenging.

The former European champions are looking for a replacement for Philippe Montanier, while a takeover by a US consortium collapsed this month.

Heckingbottom said: “What a great football club it is, but there is lots of uncertainty there.

“I am sure lots of people have been linked with it, and they all said the same, “what would be the point in going there?”

“My feelings are exactly the same.”