THE Reds travel to relegation-threatened Leyton Orient tonight in search of their seventh consecutive win.

Barnsley's first season in League One has been a topsy-turvy one, with large patches of inconsistency now being rectified with a run which has seen them climb the table over the last month.

The timely purple patch - which has seen wins over Crewe, Scunthorpe, Gillingham, Coventry, Walsall and Oldham - has been a stark contrast since their last defeat.

That fixture, a 5-1 reverse at Crawley, came in the days after Danny Wilson's sacking. The defeat - the Reds' final loss in a three-game losing streak - signalled the end of Barnsley's woeful form.

An 18-point haul in a hugely successful four-week period has seen Lee Johnson's side move from two points off the drop zone to the hallowed top six.

With ten games remaining there's now a feel-good factor and, although the automatic promotion places are out of reach, Barnsley are the league's in-form side and look good for a top six finish.

Big games are on the horizon, though. After Tuesday's trip there's a tasty clash at Oakwell against second-placed Preston, before another big one at table-topping Bristol City. It doesn't get much easier, with a crucial South Yorkshire derby against Sheffield United a week later.

April's a busy month, with five games coming thick and fast in a tiring 14-day period.

"The initial remit when I joined Barnsley was to keep the club up," Lee Johnson said. "The second criteria was to have a push for the play-offs and we're doing that but it's very tight.

"We must continue in our pursuit of excellence and we need to keep this run going to give ourselves a chance.

"An average run from here on in won't get us in the play-offs - a decent one might and a very good one will."

Remaining fixtures:

March 17 - Leyton Orient (A)

March 21 - Preston (H)

March 28 - Bristol City (A)

April 4 - Sheffield United (H)

April 6 - Colchester (A)

April 11 - Chesterfield (H)

April 14 - Notts County (A)

April 18 - Peterborough (H)

April 25 - Bradford (A)

May 3 - Rochdale (H)