BARNSLEY are braced for a major summer shake-up as boss Lee Johnson threatens to get “ruthless”.

Johnson predicts considerable upheaval at a club that have underachieved since dropping out of the Championship a year ago.

The Tykes arrive at Valley Parade tomorrow on the back of an eight-game winless run, although six of them have been draws, including the last three.

Johnson, who took the helm at the end of February, has warned his squad to expect big changes once the season is done.

And he’s also made it clear that he won’t be kept hanging on by potential transfer targets.

Johnson said: “We’re going to be quite ruthless with our recruitment.

“There are a lot of good players in the market, so we’re not going to leave any offers open for too long.

“We want to get players in early and ready for pre-season, albeit we can add some players late on if they have a sprinkling of genius.

“It’s fair to say we’re going to need to make signings if we want to be successful next season. There needs to be change, we need to swing the tide.”

Johnson has two wins against the Bantams under his belt already this season with Oldham. And he hinted this week that he might return to his old club for some of those summer recruits.

“There’s definitely something to be said for tried and tested players,” he added. “It’s better the devil you know.

“We want to sign players we can mould. It’s about getting that jigsaw right.

“We’ve got a good group of players but we want to add to that and build around that. There’s a certain DNA of player we’re looking for.”

Barnsley, like City, are well out of the play-off chase but there should still be plenty to play for.

Eight of Barnsley’s current squad are out of contract in the summer, including club captain Martin Cranie, as well as loan signings George Waring, Peter Ramage and Jabo Ibehre.

Johnson said: “The team we put out next year is going to be different. But we’re going to give a few players the chance to sink or swim before the end of the season.”