Opinion: Barnsley must make a move for rumoured 20-goal target as January window draws to a close

It is hard not to feel that the way the January transfer window has gone so far, will be a big concern for those of a Barnsley persuasion.

Sitting bottom of the Championship table, eight points from safety and having won just twice in the league all season, you feel it ought to be clear that the Tykes have to strengthen their squad this month, if they are to have a hope of avoiding relegation back to League One.

But with little more than four days remaining in the market, the Yorkshire club are one of a small number of second-tier sides yet to complete a senior signing this month.

Given their predicament, that is something you feel needs to change if they are to have a chance of avoiding the drop, and one rumoured target they ought to consider pursuing, is Morecambe’s Cole Stockton.

According to recent reports from Football Insider, Barnsley, along with Championship rivals Preston and League One duo Rotherham and Oxford, are interested in signing the striker before the window closes.

With Preston subsequently going on to sign another striker, Aston Villa’s Cameron Arhcer, on a loan deal until the end of the season, it seems the door may be more open for Barnsley to swoop for Stockton, and that is an opportunity they must surely take.

There can be no denying that goals have been a big problem for the Tykes this season, having scored the lowest number in the Championship, with just 17 in their 26 league games since the start of the campaign.

Incredibly, given Morecambe have spent much of a season battling relegation from League One, that is a tally that Stockton has matched in just 25 league games by himself this campaign, with the striker scoring a total of 20 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions.

As a result, it