Barnsley are sixth in the League One table, but their form against top-half teams has been a point of concern for supporters and former players.
At the weekend, Neill Collins will take his side to the LNER Stadium to lock horns with ninth-placed Lincoln City, who are just one point off the Oakwell outfit in the league table.
Clarke pointed out that Lincoln City have Barnsley’s poor record against the top-half side in their favour going into the weekend’s game.
The ex-EFL star warned Barnsley that they have to start winning games against their promotion rivals and reminded them that their Saturday’s opponents are also in the race for promotion.
“The thing in Lincoln’s favour is that Barnsley have been really bad against the best teams in the division”, Clarke said on the What the EFL Podcast.
“Teams in the top half, they only have six games against them, have lost five and drawn one, and have conceded three goals in four of those six games against those top half sides.
“So Barnsley, if they are going to be a promotion team, they need to sharpen up against their immediate rivals.
“Surprisingly, Lincoln are rivals because they are just one point off the playoffs so it is going to be an interesting game.”
Barnsley suffered a 5-0 humbling at the hands of Bradford City on Tuesday and the Oakwell outfit will be determined to bounce back against Lincoln City at the weekend.
