IF A draw at high-flying Bradford City was a result many would have taken to start Barnsley’s run of all-Yorkshire clashes, there is only one outcome the majority of supporters will be satisfied with when they host Rotherham United this Saturday.

The Reds surely need to win this game to end a sequence of four without victory in the league and start cutting down the gap to sixth and increasing the shorter points distance to the drop zone.

We all know about Barnsley’s ludicrously one-sided record against the Millers in recent decades.

That should give them confidence but, if they have a poor result in the game they always seem to win, it would be extra disappointing and leave them under mounting pressure going into the FA Cup clash with York City then the league trip to another neighbour in Doncaster Rovers on November 8.

The most recent win over Rotherham, a 1-0 success in February when Adam Phillips scored one penalty in a game in which the Reds could have had three and the Millers one, ended a run of one point from six games under Darrell Clarke.

They are in need of another nerve-steadier this time, having not won in the league since beating Reading in mid-September.

They probably deserve to be in mid-table after a quarter of a season in which they sometimes looked like promotion-contenders, at least in an attacking sense, but have struggled defensively and been hindered by a lack of depth and an inability to see out games regularly.

It has been a positive week with a battling display and that magical Reyes Cleary goal on Saturday which added much-needed excitement, then a 5-2 EFL Trophy win over Manchester United under 21s which was a first victory in six in all competitions.

But that needs to be backed up by three points on Saturday.

WILL DERBY DOMINANCE CONTINUE?

It has been 43 years since Barnsley lost against Rotherham, a 1-0 defeat at Millmoor in October 1982, after which the Reds have won 11 and drawn three of 14 meetings.

It has been 55 years since the Millers won at Oakwell, in a League Cup match in August 1970, since losing ten times there, including the last four, and drawing six games.

They did not play each other between 2005 and 2016 but Barnsley have won all the seven meetings since then, scoring 13 and only conceding two from their former player Michael Smith behind-closed-doors in December 2020 then to Ar’jany Martha in the League Cup earlier this season.

There was the 4-0 win in 2016, in which Conor Hourihane played, the 1-0 success in Rotherham later that season days after he was sold, the victory which put them in the Championship play-offs in 2021, and the double last season.

MILLERS IMPROVING AFTER BAD START

The Rotherham players will surely be desperate to be the team that finally ends the wait for a win over Barnsley.

If they do that, they will have nearly caught up with the Reds in the table, having been nine points and 13 places behind last month.

The Millers are understood to have been operating on a more limited budget after the big-spending failure of Steve Evans last season.

They had been in the relegation zone until this week – having been hindered by injuries – but have taken seven points from the last nine available to move up to 17th, with an EFL Trophy win adding to the sense of momentum.

As of this week, no side had made more fouls in League One than the Millers this season, so it is set up for a fierce derby.

This is Barnsley’s only home league game in seven weeks between the 2-0 home loss to Port Vale on September 27 and the visit of Northampton on November 15 although there is a good chance that will be postponed due to international call-ups.

It is vital that they give the home supporters something to cheer and not leave them festering on two bad league results in a row in the league at Oakwell.

If they win, Barnsley will be two thirds of the way to equalling last season’s final tally of six home league wins before Halloween.