Barnsley will tomorrow come up against Paul Heckingbottom's old club Norwich City and one of their former players in Marley Watkins.

The Reds will be looking to build on their back-to-back wins before the international break against Burton Albion and Birmingham City at a ground where they have not won since 1937.

Watkins, 27, joined Barnsley from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2015 and scored 18 goals in 87 games. He was part of the team that gained promotion from League One last year and then netted ten Championship goals last season before moving to Norwich when his contract ran out in the summer.

Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: "I like Marley a hell of a lot and I know he loved his time here. He is one of those players who worked his socks off for us. We got the benefit of having him in our team and we got a promotion out of it and he got a massive improvement in his game out of working with us."

Watkins made his Wales debut on Tuesday in their 1-1 draw against Panama, coming off the bench alongside his former Barnsley team-mates Tom Bradshaw and Ryan Hedges. It was a highlight of a difficult season so far for the forward. Watkins netted for Norwich in the EFL Cup against Charlton Athletic in August but is yet to score in ten Championship appearances, five of which have been starts. He has only started once since being sent off at Reading in September.

Despite spending £10million in the summer, Norwich are currently 13th under German manager Daniel Farke who took over from Alex Neil after the former Barnsley player was sacked towards the end of last season. City struggled in August and went into the first international break in the relegation zone following four-goal losses to Aston Villa and Millwall. But they then flew into the play-offs with a nine-match unbeaten run which brought six victories and six clean sheets.

Injuries to key players such as Nelson Oliveira and Alex Pritchard appear to have caught up with them recently and they have lost their last four matches to Arsenal, in the cup, then Wolves, Derby and Bolton in the league. Only sides in the bottom four have scored fewer goals than the Canaries' tally of 15 goals in 16 league matches this season. They have not won at home for five matches while only Birmingham City have scored fewer goals on their home turf.

Heckingbottom made 16 appearances for Norwich in the 2002/03 season but his three-year contract was cancelled after one year. He said: "They've got a new manager and some new players with a slightly different style. They are a very good footballing side. We're preparing for a really tough game."

Barnsley's 2-1 home win over Norwich in December – in which Bradshaw and Conor Hourihane netted – was their only victory in the last 13 meetings of the two clubs, with ten defeats. Barnsley won on three of their first four trips to Norwich but, since a 1-0 success there in 1937, they have not won in 17 visits across more than 80 years which have brought ten defeats and only ten goals. They have lost their last six games at Carrow Road, including a 2-0 defeat exactly eight months before tomorrow's meeting in which the goals came from Jacob Murphy, who has now moved on to Newcastle United, and an Angus MacDonald own goal.