Barnsley boss Neill Collins has said the club are ‘determined’ to keep hold of Coventry City target Liam Kitching.

Barnsley rejected a bid from the Sky Blues for the defender last week and aim to retain his services before the end of the transfer window.

Kitching, 23, still has three years left on his contract at Oakwell and is a first-team regular for the League One side.

Collins has fired this warning to potential suitors Coventry and any others, as per the Barnsley Chronicle: “Liam Kitching is exactly the type of player I want in my team, for the way we want to play. He ticks every box with the attributes he’s got. We’re desperate to keep hold of him.

“It’s good that we have good players and that people want someone like Kitch. We hope we can keep him and build on what he’s done at the start of this season. The club are determined to keep him.”

Barnsley want to keep centre-back

Keeping hold of Kitching would be a statement of intent by Barnsley. He played a key role in them getting to the third tier play-off final last season before their Wembley loss to rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

The Harrogate-born man made the switch to South Yorkshire in 2021 and has since established himself as a key member of the squad. He has made 92 appearances for the club in all competitions to date and has found the net on five occasions from defence.

Kitching started his career at Leeds United and rose up through the academy at Elland Road. However, he never made a senior appearance for the Whites and was shipped out on loan a couple of times to local side Harrogate Town to get some experience under his belt.

Forest Green then snapped him up on a permanent basis in 2019 and he spent a year-and-a-half with the Gloucestershire club in League Two before Barnsley swooped in.

He hasn’t looked back since and the Tykes face a battle to keep hold of him this month. They have no plans to sell him though after turning down Coventry’s offer last week.