Barnsley will welcome Huddersfield Town to Oakwell on Saturday for a Yorkshire Derby of major importance in the fight for top-six spots in the League One table.
Both in the midst of winless runs, the hosts now sit 10th while their visitors have dropped to sixth spot and only lead the chasing pack by two points.
Match preview
© Imago
Barnsley return to Oakwell on Saturday aiming to end a dismal run of form and climb back towards the League One playoff places, having quickly dropped to 10th spot since mid-January.
Aiming to win promotion back to the Championship at the third time of asking this season under the new management of Darrell Clarke, they have maintained a strong position in the playoff race throughout the majority of the campaign, having moved onto 42 points from 25 outings with four straight victories between Boxing Day and early January.
That run took the Reds' tally to 12 league wins for the campaign, but they have since failed to add another notch to that column in five further attempts, only managing a single point in the process having suffered consecutive defeats at the hands of Bristol Rovers, Stevenage and Wycombe Wanderers to finish last month.
Clarke's men would then end that losing run in a goalless draw at home to strugglers Burton Albion, only to fall short in the weekend's trip to Stockport County, having gone 2-0 down to first-half goals from Isaac Olaofe and Will Collar and failing to find a leveller after Davis Keillor-Dunn reduced the deficit late on.
Now trailing sixth spot by six points in the midst of their worst run of the season thus far, Barnsley will be desperate to reignite their playoff bid and halve the gap to their visitors with a return to winning ways on Saturday.
© Imago
Their visitors travel across Yorkshire aiming to end their own rut and keep hold of a top-six spot in League One, having seen their promotion hopes take a major hit in recent weeks.
In search of an immediate return to the Championship under the new management of Michael Duff, who led Barnsley to the playoff final in the 2022-23 season, Huddersfield Town enjoyed a strong start and sat in the top-two race on 48 points from 25 games thanks to a 16-game unbeaten streak between early October and mid-January.
That ended in a 1-0 home loss to Bolton Wanderers, and the Terriers would go on to suffer three defeats on the bounce, falling short at home to Birmingham City and away at Northampton Town, having trailed 3-0 in the latter before Herbie Kane and Jonathan Hogg reduced the deficit to one goal.
Playoff-chasers Reading then visited the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday, and Duff's men were, at least, able to end their losing run, but they saw a winless streak stretch to five games as the contest ended in a goalless stalemate.
Having now dropped out of the automatic promotion race and down to sixth spot, trailing the top four by five points and only leading seventh and eighth spots by two, Huddersfield Town now find their playoff place at risk too and will be keen to bounce back to winning ways at the weekend and strengthen their standing in the top six.
Team News
© Imago
Barnsley remain without defender Marc Roberts, who will serve the final game of a three-match ban on Saturday, while attacker Fabio Jalo is confined to the treatment room.
In Roberts's absence, Darrell Clarke switched to a back four system last time out, but he could revert to a 3-5-2 setup at the weekend with Georgie Gent returning to a left wing-back role and Josh Earl rejoining Donovan Pines and Mael de Gevigney in the centre.
Ahead of them, Luca Connell, Jon Russell and Adam Phillips should continue in the engine room, while Davis Keillor-Dunn will again lead the line having moved onto 11 goals for the season in last week's defeat, likely joining January arrival Clement Rodrigues up front again if Stephen Humphrys misses out.
Huddersfield Town continue to contend with a long injury list, as attackers Joe Taylor, Danny Ward and Rhys Healey could all remain sidelined alongside defenders Mickel Miller and Nigel Lonwijk.
Michael Duff may opt to stick with his own new back four shape, featuring Tom Lees and Radinio Balker in the middle of the defence, while Jonathan Hogg, Ben Wiles and Herbie Kane will hope to keep their midfield spots despite competition from the returning David Kasumu.
Dion Charles should again get the nod to lead the line following his January switch from Bolton Wanderers, while Josh Koroma will hope to displace Tawanda Chirewa and join Callum Marshall in support of the front man.
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Gauci; De Gevigney, Pines, Earl; Lembikisa, Connell, Russell, Phillips, Gent; Rodrigues, Keillor-Dunn
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Sorensen, Balker, Lees, Spencer; Kasumu, Kane; Marshall, Wiles, Koroma; Charles
We say: Barnsley 1-2 Huddersfield Town
Saturday's game promises to be a crucial one between two sides desperate to get promotion bids back on track at Oakwell.
It is arguably the visitors who have the stronger quality to overcome their rut, while Barnsley are yet to show their dominance at Oakwell this term, and we back Michael Duff to prevail over his old side as a result.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
