It is just a fact of footballing life that the Goliaths can always lord it over the Davids of this world when it comes to financial muscle.

And so it proved today – to the detriment of Barnsley Football Club.

Yes, David can sometimes topple Goliath in the arena – as Barnsley did to Leicester last weekend – but Goliath's owners then just look at what earned David the spoils of war, and proceed to nick it!

Danny Drinkwater was so influential for the Reds in their eyecatching 2-1 victory at the King Power Stadium on Saturday that the Foxes started sniffing around.

And, lo and behold, the Midlands Club, who are flush with money in comparison to most Championship clubs, let alone cash-strapped Barnsley, went and did a deal with Manchester United.

So instead of Drinkwater lining up in the Reds' midfield against lowly Millwall on Saturday, he will have his feet up, preparing for Leicester's Monday night clash at the home of current league leaders Southampton.

Unless of course he decides to pop along to Oakwell and cheer on his now former colleagues.....

It is a crying shame that after Jacob Butterfield was ruled out for the rest of the season with ligament damage, so manager Keith Hill has been dealt another midfield blow with the departure of Drinkwater.

But Hill and his assistant David Flitcroft have dealt with the those problems before – and found solutions. They did at Rochdale, and they have already done it at Oakwell.

For example, Barnsley lost Jason Shackell at the start of his current season, but out of nowhere 'Hillcroft' pulled out the signing of Jimmy McNulty, who has done a sterling job at the heart of the Reds rearguard.

Don't get me wrong, I really rate Shackell and didn't want him to leave. But the player was desperate to be off, keen to follow Mark Robins out of the Oakwell exit door.

What Hill and Flitcroft have managed to achieve so far this season, on a budget that some would argue can't even be described as a shoestring, is nothing short of staggering.

The standard of football is miles better than it has been in recent seasons, and the team are already 12 points clear of the bottom three.

The loss of Drinkwater, along with that of Butterfield, are body blows, but I have faith in Hill. I'm sure he can pull another rabbit out of the hat, be it a young, hungry player on loan from a Premier League club, or a never-say-die workaholic from a lower league club, another David Perkins.

As Barnsley followers we have to face some harsh truths. We are a small fish swimming in a big pond, a pond that has grown and grown over the years.

No longer is this the old Second Division. It is a Premier League MKII.

Barnsley simply cannot compete with clubs like West Ham, Leicester and Southampton. They cannot even compete with the likes of Blackpool or Burnley at the moment, due to the Premier League parachute payments enjoyed by those clubs in the last few seasons.

But what Hill has done this season, in such pleasing pass-and-move style, is to get a team to compete with the richer clubs out there on the pitch.

There is still 20 matches to go of course. And Barnsley's season could swing. Up, down, or, can it even stay roughly the same?

With such a small squad, and the predators circling around their best players, the Oakwell outfit might find it difficult to maintain their progress.

But I wouldn't bet against it.

In Hillcroft we trust. They certainly haven't let us down so far.

Indeed, as Hill rightly points out, in many respects they are over-achieving.

Keep it up Keith lad!

HE'S CERTAINLY MY CUP OF TEA

In Leicester City's matchday programme there was a feature on Barnsley's gaffer.

The last paragraph was spot-on. It read: 'One of the most highly-rated young managers in league football, Hill was linked with a number of jobs before taking over at Barnsley in May last year, and he has repaid the Yorkshire club's faith with an impressive campaign to date'.

On the opposite page, there was a feature called 'The Insider'. It is a piece where a Barnsley-based writer comments on the Reds.

I have done it for the last couple of seasons.

On Saturday it was someone else. And clearly some of what was written got Hill's back up.

The Barnsley boss was described as a 'colourful character and not everyone's cup of tea'.

On the Reds' leading scorer Ricardo Vaz Te it was said: 'one week he looks like Pele, the next he looks like he belongs in the Conference!'

Mmm.....perhaps not exactly a wise move writing stuff like that. Especially in the matchday programme of the opposition club.

And especially, as it turned out, before Barnsley turn in one of their best performances of the season to chalk up a tremendous away win!

At this week's customary Thursday morning press conference, the Reds boss was in forthright mood.

He said: "I've sometimes encounted problems with the local press. They can be supporters who are journalists.

"The local press could do a lot, lot better in regards to this football club. There has to be a sense of perspective when you are reporting on Barnsley Football Club in the Championship.

"People say that I'm not everyone's cup of tea. Well, if they want to say or write that then fair enough, but reporters should be as professional as we are.

"Unfortunately we find that things get written by supporters who go by the name of journalists."

It was very interesting to note that the most accurate passer currently plying his trade in European's top five leagues this season is a Sheffield United cast-off!

Forget Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Alonso, Andres Iniesta, Steven Gerrard or David Silva.

The player that was revealed earlier this week as the 'pass master' was none other than Swansea City's unsung midfield star Leon Britton.

Opta stats show that the 29-year-old has completed 93.3% of his passes during the Welsh Club's debut season in the Premier League, putting him ahead of Barcelona duo Xaxi and Sergio Busquets.

Britton, nicknamed 'Little' by his Swansea team-mates due to his diminutive 5ft 5in build, has become an integral part of a City side that has earned rave reviews this term for their silky passing style.

He impressed at Oakwell recently as the Swans won 4-2 in the FA Cup  and is the only player in the Premier League this season to complete a match with a 100% passing success rate, against Bolton in October.

But prior to Swansea's rise to the top flight, Britton actually left the club for a while, to join Sheffield United.

The Blades were then under the stewardship of Kevin Blackwell, and poor old Britton struggled. That was mainly due to the fact that he hardly ever saw the ball. It just get going over his head, launched from back to front! 

Brian Howard will have known just how Britton felt!

And so the little midfielder soon got out of Bramall Lane, and made his way back to Wales, where he has flourished once more.

In a team that plays proper football.....