Barnsley FC’s steely resolve means Championship survival is still a possibility

It is hardly a position they want to be in with just nine games left and the gap to safety standing at seven points (effectively eight points if one considers goal difference).

To say that they will need to put in a strong run is obvious, with perhaps a minimum of five wins needed – maybe even six – to ensure second-tier status come season’s end.

It will be a tall order – perhaps too tall for a proud and passionate club – but it is not yet mission impossible for head coach Gerhard Struber and his men.

Losing to Cardiff, who are within two points of the play-offs, was no disgrace and the physical, attritional style of the Welsh club makes them difficult to play against, with Barnsley captain Alex Mowatt echoing Huddersfield Town manager Danny Cowley’s recent admission that his side were “bullied” when Cardiff won 3-0 last month at John Smith’s Stadium.

If Saturday’s defeat taught Barnsley anything ahead of the trip to mid-table QPR, it is that they have to trust in their own quick, high-energy method after they got sucked into Cardiff’s physical, long ball approach.

It is a method which, prior to the Cardiff defeat and the previous Saturday’s 2-0 reverse at Reading, had secured three straight wins against Fulham, Middlesbrough and Hull City, results which afforded tangible hope of avoiding the drop.

Struber bemoaned how Barnsley showed two faces against Cardiff – their usual face (albeit without the flourish of too much make-up in an attacking sense) in a drab and scoreless first half, followed by the unrecognisable visage of a side bereft of speed or energy in the second period.

Such vicissitudes are not to be wholly unexpected from a largely young and developing squad, the innate fearlessness of which, in itself, perhaps gives some hope of bridging the present points gap.

There was certainly no lack of confidence from Struber or Mowatt when they addressed the media, only a sense of bemusement that Barnsley had not brought their A-game to the table.

Indeed, they spoke confidently of the team getting out of trouble – not low-key, empty expressions of confidence that sometimes pour from the lips of managers and players in such circumstances, but genuine optimism that the challenge can be met.

The key time for Barnsley promises to be Easter.

On Good Friday, they travel to Luton, who leapfrogged them thanks to a goalless draw at fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic.

Then, on Easter Monday, the Reds host Wigan in another archetypal six-pointer.

Ideally, Barnsley would not want to leave themselves too much to do thereafter, seeing as their season ends with a trip to leaders Leeds United, a home game against fifth-placed Nottingham Forest and a visit to fourth-placed Brentford.

After this Saturday’s fixture at QPR and prior to Easter, Barnsley face eighth-placed Millwall and 10th-placed Blackburn at home, then travel to 17th-placed Stoke City.

As Mowatt concluded with an unmistakable steeliness and determination in his eyes: “We have to believe until the last game. We’ve shown that we can go on a run. We’ve recently won three games on the bounce, so we need to get back to that sort of form.”

It is not yet mission impossible for Mowatt, Struber and company – more mission improbable.

Barnsley, though, still believe it is mission possible.