Looking to halt a worrying winless run, playoff-chasing Barnsley will welcome title favourites Birmingham City to Oakwell for a League One battle on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds suffered a last-gasp defeat at newly-promoted Wrexham earlier in the week, whilst Blues managed a comfortable victory over promotion rivals Stockport County.
Match preview
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Since the 2-0 success over Yorkshire rivals Rotherham United on November 8, Barnsley have endured a five-game winless streak across League One and the FA Cup, meaning that Saturday's hosts will not be full of confidence heading into a clash with the favourites for the third-tier crown.
The Reds were the latest victims of the Hollywood storyline being played out in North Wales on Tuesday night, when a 92nd-minute winner from Ollie Rathbone snatched maximum points for Wrexham, who were watched by the likes of Rob McElhenney and Danny DeVito from across the Atlantic Ocean.
Returning to the reality of Oakwell life this weekend, Barnsley are currently occupying eighth position in the League One table, three points behind sixth-placed Reading and a mammoth 10 points adrift of second-placed Wrexham, who will take some catching between now and early May.
Unlike the majority of sides in the third tier, the Reds have collected fewer points at home than during away matches so far in 2024-25, with Darrell Clarke's men victorious in just two of their nine fixtures at Oakwell - only relegation-threatened Burton Albion (1) have won fewer in front of their own supporters.
After losing 30-goal pair Devante Cole and John McAtee to West Bromwich Albion and Bolton Wanderers respectively over the summer, Barnsley have struggled to reach the attacking heights of last season, as shown by midfielder Adam Phillips leading the club's Golden Boot race with five strikes.
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Since the 3-2 defeat at Gareth Ainsworth's Shrewsbury Town on November 23, Birmingham City have enjoyed a three-game winning run across League One and the FA Cup, getting their hopes of automatic promotion to the Championship at the first time of asking back on track ahead of the festive period.
Following back-to-back away successes at Exeter City and Blackpool, Stockport County were the latest victims of Chris Davies's third-tier juggernaut on Wednesday night, when a brilliant brace from Alfie May - now back operating in a central-striking role - secured victory for Blues at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.
Due to Wycombe Wanderers' slight slip-up at the home of the Grecians earlier in the week, Birmingham have moved to within three points of the league leaders in the League One standings, although the Second City side have games in hand on both the Chairboys and second-placed Wrexham.
Only Matt Bloomfield's Wycombe (21) have collected more than Blues' 16 points on the road in League One so far this campaign, but Davies's men have won just one of their last three League One outings due to a share of the spoils at Mansfield Town and a shock defeat at Shrewsbury recently.
Birmingham have failed to win during their last two trips to South Yorkshire, with Saturday's visitors last tasting success at Oakwell in February 2020, when a 16-year-old Jude Bellingham assisted Scott Hogan for the contest's only goal.
Team News
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After drawing a blank at Wrexham on Tuesday night, Barnsley could be tempted to make some changes to their forward line, meaning that the places of Davis Keillor-Dunn and Stephen Humphreys are under threat.
At just 19 years of age, Portuguese striker Fabio Jalo looked sharp during a brief cameo in Wales and could earn his first League One start of the campaign this weekend.
A number of ex-Birmingham players are set to face their former employers at Oakwell, including Marc Roberts, Sam Cosgrove and Corey O'Keeffe.
After providing two assists for May in the first half against Stockport, Birmingham winger Keshi Anderson picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign and will therefore serve a one-game suspension this weekend.
The absence of the former Blackpool man will add to the selection woes for Blues on the flanks, with both Emil Hansson and Scott Wright unavailable because of injury.
Ayumu Yokoyama would represent a natural replacement for Anderson, but the 21-year-old failed to make the matchday squad on Wednesday night, with veteran striker Lukas Jutkiewicz preferred.
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Killip; De Gevigney, Roberts, Earl; O'Keeffe, Phillips, Connell, Russell, Gent; Jalo, Keillor-Dunn
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Bielik, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Iwata, Paik, Harris, Willumsson, Stansfield; May
We say: Barnsley 0-1 Birmingham City
In the midst of a five-game winless run, Barnsley will not be looking forward to the visit of promotion contenders Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.
Blues' attack is set to be blunted by the absence of Anderson, but we feel that the visitors should manage to grind out a narrow victory in South Yorkshire.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
