After suffering a first league defeat of the season last weekend, Dave Challinor’s County side will be looking to bounce back on Saturday night, as we travel to Oakwell to take on high-flying Barnsley live on Sky Sports.
A rare off day at Edgeley Park last time out saw a clinical Leyton Orient outfit emerge 4-1 winners in SK3, inflicting just a second league defeat since February on the Hatters, and a first loss in six league games since returning to League One.
That reversal made it three games without a win for County in the league, following draws at Mansfield Town and Crawley Town, as we dropped to seventh place in the table. We are now five points behind early league leaders, Wrexham, with a game in hand on the Welsh side.
Opponents, Barnsley were beaten play-off semi-finalists last season after finishing sixth, and have enjoyed a strong start to the new campaign. The Tykes claimed a fourth league win of the season last Saturday, as a last minute strike from Stephen Humphrys secured a 2-1 win away at struggling Burton Albion.
Those three points have lifted them to third in the table on 13 points – two more than County, albeit having played a game more than us so far.
Our Opponents:
Much like County, Barnsley suffered the ultimate play-off agony in 2023, losing to local rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the showpiece final at Wembley thanks to a goal scored in stoppage time at the end of extra-time by Josh Windass.
Consigned to League One for another season, the Tykes were then dealt another blow that Summer with the news that manager, Michael Duff had left the Club to join Championship outfit, Swansea City.
Replacing him was former Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers defender, Neill Collins, who joined following four years in charge of Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USA.
For much of last season Barnsley were once again in the thick of the promotion chase, with the South Yorkshire side moving into the top six on October 3rd and remaining there for the rest of the season.
In early March they sat just three points behind Bolton Wanderers in the automatic promotion places, ahead of hosting Wanderers at Oakwell. The Tykes took a 2-0 lead in that game and looked on course to move into the top two, but threw it away late on as Bolton grabbed a 98th minute equaliser.
Collins’ side never really recovered from that setback. Just five days later, the team were taken apart 5-1 at home to Lincoln City, before embarking on a run of just two wins in nine games.
From the brink of the automatic promotion places, Barnsley went into the final game of the season in fifth, still needing a win against Northampton Town to guarantee a play-off spot. That dramatic collapse in form had consequences, with Collins sacked ahead of that last game in a final bid to spark a turnaround heading into a potential play-off campaign.
Coach Martin Devaney was placed in interim charge, and a play-off place was eventually secured despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Northampton on the final day – with Blackpool and Lincoln City failing to capitalise on that slip-up.
For the second successive season, Barnsley faced Bolton Wanderers in the play-off semi-finals. The Tykes had triumphed 2-1 on aggregate in 2023, but it was The Trotters who had the last laugh this time, winning the first leg 3-1 at Oakwell. Barnsley did manage to win the return leg 3-2 but it wasn’t enough, and a season that had promised so much for so long came to a disappointing conclusion, with a fourth straight year in League One confirmed.
Over the Summer months, a permanent manager has been found in Darrell Clarke. The one-time County loanee has previous promotion experience with Port Vale, and joined having almost pulled off the great escape with Cheltenham Town last season.
His era got off to a disappointing start with a 2-1 defeat at home to newly promoted Mansfield Town on opening night, but his side have responded impressively since then – losing only once in the subsequent six league outings.
An eye-catching 2-1 win away at Lincoln set them on their way, and the side dismantled Crawley Town 3-0 at the end of August.
Alarm bells were rung following a 3-0 defeat away at Stevenage two weeks ago, which was swiftly followed up by a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, but Clarke’s men bounced back once again with that win at Burton last time out.
Deadline day additions of former Wigan striker Stephen Humphrys and Mansfield attacker Davis Keillor-Dunn have added a different dimension to the Barnsley attack, whilst they are able to call on one of the division’s outstanding midfielders in 26-year-old Adam Phillips.
With everyone else in League One in action before this game kicks off at 7.45pm, the Tykes could well start the game outside of the play-off places, so will be looking for another win here to further strengthen their own promotion credentials.
Match Stats:
- County have only lost three of their last 24 away league fixtures, a run dating back to August 2023. Newport County, Tranmere Rovers and Wrexham are the only home teams to have beaten us in that time.
- Saturday will be the 94th competitive meeting between these two sides, and the first since January 2005. We’ll be looking for our first win at Oakwell since 2001 – a 2-0 victory secured by goals from Shefki Kuqi and Aaron Wilbraham.
- County have only ever recorded back-to-back defeats on four occasions under the management of Dave Challinor. Saturday will be Dave’s 161st game in charge of the Club.
