Vital Victory for Barnsley

Barnsley secured a vital victory in their battle to beat the drop as they edged out fellow strugglers Millwall in a tight and tense affair. The reds won 1 – 0 thanks to a goal from Jim O’Brien as early as the fourth minute.

O’Brien was immense throughout and I was delighted that it was him that scored the winner given the recent abuse he has received following his mistake at Sheffield Wednesday.

The match was a tense affair with both teams looking nervous and knowing that only three points would do.

Fortunately Barnsley came away with those three points and it is now wide open at the bottom with several teams very much in the mix.

Not many other results went Barnsley’s way but had they lost this one then relegation would have been a certainty.

I would expect Yeovil to fall despite their victory over Doncaster at the weekend.

Millwall look very poor and they will be in the mix come the end of the season. I thought that the appointment of Holloway would propel them up the league table but it just goes to show that no matter what pedigree the manager has, if you don’t have the players then you will struggle. After all there is a reason they were down there to begin with.

Charlton had a good win over QPR and their FA cup run could inspire them. However I am hoping that the amount of games that they have to play in such a short space of time will catch up with them and keep them in the mix.

I’d also expect Doncaster to remain in the mix and Blackpool are in free fall.

Sheffield Wednesday seem to be heading in the right direction and I expect the likes of Bolton to have enough to survive.

So it looks like three from six from where I’m sitting. Barnsley, Yeovil, Charlton, Millwall, Doncaster and Blackpool all to be battling it out.

After beating Millwall I have again become hopeful that survival is possible. However it is still a hard task with a daunting fixture list.

We need to be winning away at the likes of Charlton and Yeovil. Draws against fellow strugglers just won’t do from now on.

I wouldn’t like to predict which three will eventually fall through the trap door but we are not dead and buried yet. Could we pull off the great escape two years in a row?