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Features </p><div class="borderBottom"><div class="article"><div class="articleText"><h3 class="headline">ANDY RITCHIE: BATTLING ON WITH BARNSLEY </h3><div class="articleBody"><p align="center"><font color="#ff0000"></font></p>

<font color="#ff0000">By Tony Leighton</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">After what can best be described as a mixed start to the season, Barnsley's excellent October has lifted them eight places to fifth in the table and earned Andy Ritchie the Coca-Cola League 1 Manager of the Month award.</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">The Tykes entered October in the bottom half of the division following three successive defeats, but three wins and two draws from their five League games during the month saw them head into November in the promotion play-off places.</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">&quot;We were inconsistent in the first couple of months of the season,&quot; admitted Ritchie, &quot;but we've got a young and relatively inexperienced squad and that can sometimes be one of the reasons for inconsistency.</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">&quot;A lot of the lads are still learning the game, but if we can keep them together and they can grow up together that consistency will come. They've already got a great team spirit and they also get on well with each other off the pitch, which is a bonus.</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">&quot;They certainly came up with the goods in October, and it's down to the hard work of the players and the back-room staff as much as it is to me that I've been handed the Manager of the Month award.</font></p><p align="center"></p>

<font color="#00009a">&quot;It was a great month for us, but I'm not shouting from the roof-tops - we're in a very tight division and the teams who end up getting promoted will be the ones who show the consistency we had last month and that hopefully we can now keep in our game.&quot;</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">Ritchie is quite rightly cautious when assessing League 1 - so tight is the division that, as the season moves into November, only four points separate Barnsley in fifth place from Oldham Athletic in 15th. </font></p>

<font color="#00009a">Former Oldham manager Ritchie, who took over at Oakwell in March, knows he must pursue Barnsley's promotion dreams on a tight budget with the club recently announcing record losses.</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">But he is relishing his task and is tackling it in positive fashion. &quot;We're obviously not flush with money,&quot; he said, &quot;but the chairman and the board have helped me as much as they can and everyone involved is trying to take the club forward.</font></p>

<font color="#00009a">&quot;The fans have been brilliant and that's been a big help, and hopefully we can reward them by keeping this run going for as long as possible. It's going to be tough, but that has to be the aim and consistency will be the key to achieving it.&quot;</font></p>

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