Millwall stretched their unbeaten Championship run to 12 games and moved four points off the play-offs with their six-consecutive away league victory.

Lee Gregory’s ninth league goal of the season put the Lions ahead midway through the first-half and Ben Marshall’s spectacular long-range effort sealed the win 18 minutes into the second period.

Club record equalled

When Millwall were beaten 2-1 by Norwich at Carrow Road on New Year’s Day not even the most optimistic Lions fan could have envisaged what would happen in the next ten weeks.

Two late gave Neil Harris’ side a dramatic win at Leeds on 20 January to start this amazing run and that was followed up by a comfortable win at relegation threatened Reading at the beginning of February.

Those victories were followed up by 1-0 successes at Birmingham and then a week later at Burton Albion. George Saville’s early goal at Hull City set them on their way to away win number five before Gregory and Marshall struck at Barnsley to give the Lions an incredible sixth successive win on the road.

Jordan Archer was outstanding

He has been criticised by some fans for making too many errors this season, but Archer deservedly kept his fourteenth clean sheet this season at Oakwell. The majority of those shut-outs has been down to his back-four, but yesterday, his defence would have been thankful for him.

The Scottish international made two fine saves at the beginning of the second-half, firstly to tip Liam Lindsay’s low strike wide and then made an even better stop to keep out Kieffer Moore’s near-post header.

Archer’s best save of the afternoon came just seconds after Ben Marshall doubled Millwall’s lead as he superbly denied George Moncur with his fingertips.

The one occasion Archer was beaten, Jake Cooper acrobatically hooked Oliver McBurnie’s header off the line to keep Millwall two goals in ahead.

Millwall closing in on the top-six

Play-off rivals Middlesbrough and Sheffield United dropped points on Saturday, whilst Derby’s game with Cardiff on Sunday was postponed due to the weather, meaning Millwall’s win at Barnsley left them four points off fifth-place.

The Lions still have to travel Boro and the Blades before the end of the season, whilst Bristol City, Fulham and Aston Villa have to visit the Den.

Harris’ side must take maximum points from the Easter period, as they host Nottingham Forest on Good Friday and then travel to Ipswich on Easter Monday in search of a club record seventh straight away league victory.

Lions end their dreadful league record against Barnsley

Millwall arrived in South Yorkshire on the back of five consecutive league and play-off defeats against Barnsley, including the 2015/2016 League One play-off final and the reverse league fixture back in September, which the Tykes ran out 3-1 winners on both occasions.

The Lions dominated the first-half and deserved their lead at the break and despite some Barnsley pressure at the start of the second period, from the moment Marshall found the top corner, the result was never in doubt.

It was also Millwall’s first win at Oakwell since January 2012, when a Darius Henderson hat-trick was enough for a 3-1 victory.

More selection headaches for Neil Harris

With the returning Aiden O’Brien fit enough to return to the squad, someone had to be sacrificed, and that unfortunate party was Conor McLaughlin.

Harris admitted that it was a tough decision and one he made to ensure that Millwall had a more attacking bench, with the likes Tim Cahill, Fred Onyedinma and Tom Elliott among the substitutes.

Harry Toffolo, Ben Thompson and Shane Ferguson have found themselves missing from the match-day squad in recent weeks since the arrivals of Cahill and Jason Shackell in January.