'Smiles on faces': Why Davis Keillor-Dunn's upturn is key for transforming Barnsley FC's League One fortunes

If the Reds are to make a lasting impression at the business end of the League One table and be there when it matters next spring, their marquee summer arrival will have a fair bit to say about it.

It said something about the character of the Wearsider that he fronted up in the press ahead of last month’s critical trip to Blackpool, a time when Oakwell natives were getting restless by virtue of a worrying run of just one win in seven matches, with some insipid performances compounding matters.

Keillor-Dunn netted in that key victory and all told, he has struck three times in his last four matches to reprise the form he showed at Mansfield last term.

In the process, the forward, who turned 27 earlier this month, has channelled a ‘bit of frustration’ in his words with the ‘fire in his stomach’ from his earlier five-match barren streak fuelling him nicely.

The maxim of the harder you work, the luckier you get is certainly applying at the minute for Keillor-Dunn.

Clearly a driven individual, he said: "You have got to have goals and if someone said: ‘You don’t want to get promoted (this year)’, they’d be lying.

"Everyone wants to move up in football. But it’s short-term things and day to day. We do our meetings, set-plays and training sessions and you must have smiles on faces and make sure everybody is happy and confident.

"You can only worry about what happens on Saturday and Tuesday and put everything in place. Everything can change."

After a testing period earlier this autumn, Barnsley are not yet out of the woods just yet.

While their away form is the best in the division - with Darrell Clarke’s side having won five of their seven matches and taking an impressive 15 points to date - their home numbers are under-whelming by contrast.

Their haul of seven points from six games is the 19th best in the division, not the sort of statistic that you associate with promotion candidates.

With three of their four league matches in November being at home, the Reds have a choice opportunity to do something about it, starting with Friday's home derby with Rotherham United.