Five in hunt By Simon Meeks THE shortlist for the Barnsley job is down to five. Interviews are expected to begin this week and an appointment remains due in January. Barnsley directors have pared down the 20 serious contenders to succeed sacked manager Andy Ritchie to a handful. Names are being closely guarded but current caretaker boss Simon Davey is thought to be among them. Davey's cause was not helped at the weekend by the 2-0 defeat at fellow Championship strugglers Leicester City. Davey will remain in charge on Saturday at QPR and, almost certainly, on Boxing Day for the home game with Burnley. Barnsley and Davey looks set to be without skipper Paul Reid for the match at QPR's Loftus Road. Reid lasted only 45 minutes at Leicester. "Paul's cut his ankle and he's also twisted the ligaments," Davey explained. "We tried to send him out for the second half. He went out early for a warm up and his ankle just seized up." Consolation for Barnsley is that Antony Kay, who missed the game at Leicester with sickness, will be back for Saturday. The loss to Leicester was Davey's first defeat has Barnsley boss. At 2-0 down he brought off on-loan striker Leon Knight. "When you're 2-0 down you have to try and get a goal from somewhere," Davey declared. "I changed the system. I needed a goal and he hadn't go one in the first half." Knight has yet to score for Barnsley in the five starts he has had since arriving on loan from Swansea City. Sheffield United have no plans to open immediate contract talks with Neil Warnock, despite their sparkling run of form. Warnock, whose deal is set to expire at the end of the season, has made no attempt to hide his frustration at the present situation and raised the matter again in the aftermath of Saturday's 1-0 victory at Wigan Athletic. But speaking ahead of today's AGM at Bramall Lane, PLC chairman Kevin McCabe told The Star: "Neil has got a very good contract already. We're talking about two people who have known each other for a long time and who get on very well." 18 December 2006
