A deeper look at today's South Yorkshire derby.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
Barnsley (4-2-3-1): Cooper; Watson, Shepherd, Earl, Ogbeta; Bland, Connell; Phillips, Vickers, Cleary; Keillor-Dunn.
Rotherham (3-4-3): Dawson; Rafferty, Jules, Baptiste; McWilliams, Gore, Spence, Powell; Benson, Nombe, Martha.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Paul Davis, Rotherham Advertiser
Rotherham suffered under the weight of injuries as Matt Hamshaw’s rebuilding mission got underway, but they have shown encouraging signs of progress in the last three weeks, with key men beginning to return.
They’re a mix of graft and craft and, as you’d expect under Hamshaw, they’re full of running.
Saturday is a big match for them. Get a result and they will have real momentum. They won last week despite illness ravaging the squad and some real character is developing in the camp. History is against them this weekend, mind.
I won’t be the first person to say this: Josh Benson is a Championship-quality player playing in League One.
Every Miller hopes he can stay fit.
He was missing through injury earlier in the campaign but has had a major impact recently. He’s been making things happen in an advanced role. Watch out for him if there’s a free-kick within striking distance.
REFEREE
Benjamin Speedie
The Merseyside official did not give what Barnsley felt was a blatant penalty against Fleetwood in 2022 then sent off Michael Duff for his reaction to the fourth official.
The former teacher also sent off Reds coach Jon Stead for his response to some of Speedie’s decisions in a 2-1 loss at Charlton under Neill Collins in April of last year.
Speedie’s last game at Oakwell was Blackpool’s 3-0 win in March which led to Darrell Clarke’s sacking.
KEY BATTLES
CONOR HOURIHANE V MATT HAMSHAW
When Conor Hourihane was lifting a trophy to celebrate Derby County’s promotion last year, and being drenched in champagne by team-mates, Matt Hamshaw watched on as the Rams assistant manager. They have gone in different but also similar directions since then.
Hourihane, despite captaining the Rams to promotion, was released by Derby then returned to Barnsley as player/coach.
Hamshaw left Derby in February after Paul Warne’s sacking and, almost exactly like Hourihane when replacing Darrell Clarke, got the interim job at his old club Rotherham in March before being made permanent in mid-April and taking on his first managerial role.
It has been a tough start to this season for Hamshaw, whose assistant Dale Tonge is from Barnsley and earned promotion with the Reds as a player in 2006 and coach in 2019.
But, unlike Hourihane, the last few weeks have been much more successful for Hamshaw who is understood to live in Elsecar.
They know each other well and already shared a touchline this season in the cup game in August when Rotherham should have been more than 1-0 up at the break before the Reds came back to win 2-1.
LUCA CONNELL V JOSH BENSON
Benson has already started four league matches for Rotherham, which is as many as he managed for Barnsley in his last two and half years at Oakwell.
It was a frustrating four-year stint with the Reds for the midfielder who signed a lucrative contract with a club who had just missed out on promotion to the Premier League in 2021, after playing at that level for Burnley.
He showed some glimpses of real ability but was never able to hold down a permanent place in the team, mainly due to a pattern since late 2022 of sustaining an injury which kept him out for weeks or months, briefly returning and looking promising then picking up a different problem.
He has hobbled off a couple of times for Rotherham as well but returned quickly.
He netted the winner at Northampton then was taken off for tactical reasons at half-time on Saturday having played as a number ten.
Benson is likely to come up against Luca Connell and Adam Phillips who often kept him out of the team when fit.
How Barnsley line-up in midfield will be interesting as Patrick Kelly has been making a strong case to start in a more attacking role.
REYES CLEARY V JOE RAFFERTY
Since losing the last home league game to Port Vale, with a very poor performance against an obdurate defence, Barnsley have introduced Reyes Cleary into their starting 11 who they will hope can provide another moment of magic if Rotherham come to defend and be solid.
A second 70-yard strike might be too much to hope for, but Cleary is capable of beating a defender with pace and skill then providing end product. He has certainly sped up what had become a prosaic and predictable Reds attack.
The left winger is in line to start in the league for the first time and, with David McGoldrick an option off the bench, the starting 11 and subs look more balanced than for much of the season.
McGoldrick scored a midweek hat-trick but has not started twice in a few days this season.
Cleary will be looking to take on the likes of Rafferty, who plays on the right of Rotherham’s back three, and Zak Jules who got away with a blatant handball in the box in the last league meeting. Barnsley will hope their fluid attack, with Cleary often pushing up into a front two with Davis Keillor-Dunn and others swapping positions, will cause problems against the visiting back three.
Rotherham have threats of their own on that flank with Ar’jany Martha – the only Millers man to net at Oakwell in 20 years after scoring in August’s cup game – stepping in at right wing-back in the last game for fellow Dutchman Denzel Hall who has two goals this season.
JACK SHEPHERD V SAM NOMBE
Nombe scored twice on the opening day of the season then spent two months out injured before returning last week and netting the winner over Orient on Saturday.
The Reds tried to sign the striker, who turned 27 this week, from Exeter for whom he terrorised them in the 2022/23 season but instead he moved to then Championship Rotherham for a reported £1million.
He struggled in the second tier but netted 15 goals back in League One last season.
Shepherd has probably been Barnsley’s best defender so far this season, impressing at old club Bradford City on Saturday.
No player has blocked more shots in League One this season.
He will be hoping to guide the Reds to their first home clean sheet during Conor Hourihane’s time as head coach.
