Analysis of Barnsley's 1-1 draw at Worksop Town in their second friendly on Saturday.
IT IS a good job that the first few games of pre-season are only about getting fitness and sharpness back, because Barnsley were poor in this match.
Their late equaliser was their only shot on target while they conceded a very sloppy goal and gave up several other chances to their sixth-tier hosts.
But they played with ten men for a quarter of the game, the team that started - before mainly being taken off on the hour - were mostly development players and Adam Phillips had been added to their injury list with a minor knock from the previous game.
Their squad continued to look threadbare in certain areas with doubts over the futures of many of the players involved.
But ultimately it is just a stepping stone towards the first league game four weeks after this friendly.
GOALKEEPER ERROR
New goalkeeper Murphy Cooper gifted Worksop their goal on the hour by passing the ball straight to Aleks Starcenko who fired back past him into the empty net.
It was a poor error but pre-season is the time to get them out of the way, while he made some good passes at times and also a big one-on-one save just before the equaliser.
The Reds were determined to pass out from the back despite playing on an astroturf pitch they were not used to.
There were a series of substitutes just before Cooper’s error which might have impacted the organisation and communication at the back.
DKD NETS AGAIN
If Davis Keillor-Dunn is distracted by the talk of him potentially leaving this summer, he is not showing it with two goals in the first two friendlies.
He came off the bench for about half an hour and got the leveller 20 minutes later with a one-on-one finish.
The pass was supplied by Vimal Yoganathan who was the starter who looked most capable of creating something with some impressive turns and touches.
There were debuts for Nathanael Ogbeta, who produced one dangerous cross, and Reyes Cleary who came on at the break and embarked on a couple of good runs on the left wing.
FIRST HALF INJURIES
Young striker Leo Farrell started up front but came off with an injury after 25 minutes. The Reds, who had a plan to give every player a certain amount of minutes for fitness, elected not to bring on a substitute so played with ten men and no striker until the break.
Centre-back Tom Senior came off a few minutes later with a nasty cut just above his eye and was replaced by Connor Barratt.
RIGHT-BACK QUESTIONS
It is unclear currently what Barnsley’s plan is with the right-back position.
Corey O’Keeffe started on the right of the front three, replacing Barry Cotter who started there at Emley four days earlier before being loaned out.
Both are wing-backs and do not naturally fit either the winger role or being a right-back in a back four in the current 4-2-3-1 system.
O’Keeffe, who contributed plenty of assists in the first half of last season, did not start any of the last six games under Hourihane.
In the first two friendly games, Mael de Gevigney has played at right-back. In Worksop, he often inverted into midfield when Barnsley had the ball.
