Increasing bench options means Barnsley players cannot rest on their laurels

Ismael uses it to ensure his team’s intensity matches his own, and to keep players on their toes. As Elliot Simoes and Luke Thomas discovered in January when they were loaned out with fleas in their ears, he is impatient with those who cannot keep up with his demands. They require such energy, he needs to make regular changes to maintain it.

Despite that, there are still some fixtures in his team – Mads Andersen, Alex Mowatt, Callum Brittain, Cauley Woodrow and Callum Styles – who you can always expect to see in the XI. Styles has started all Ismael’s 27 matches in charge bar one – he was suspended for December’s trip to Swansea City – and has been substituted just five times.

It is not bad for someone who had barely played left wing-back when Ismael got hold of him, but the 20-year-old knows if he rests on his laurels, the Frenchman will not stand for it, so he does not want to rest at all.

“He always wants 100 per cent and if you’re not at 100 per cent, we know what he can do,” says Styles of Ismael. “He’s got five subs to keep the intensity high and that’s what he’s good at, recognising when to change.

“He can adapt very well to the opponent to get results. We go out always looking to win the game. It speaks volumes that we’re eighth when you consider last season (when they finished 21st).

“I’m capable of 90 minutes every game because I’ve got a good engine so I’ve just got to keep putting good performances in. I recover well at home. As athletes, we’ve got to do that when games are coming thick and fast.”

Styles moved from home-town club Bury as a midfielder in January 2019 but now considers himself a wing-back.

“I feel like it’s my position because I’ve played most of my games there,” he says. “I feel like I’ve got a good feel for the position and I’m playing really well there.

“The first time I played wing-back was I think the fifth-last game of last season and I’ve taken it in my stride. I’m always trying to develop and learn more about the position.”

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