TWO OF the least in-form sides in League One, separated by less than 20 miles on the road and goal difference in mid-table, meet on Saturday as they both look to reignite seasons which began well before tailing off dramatically recently.

Barnsley have collected two points from five league games and hosts Doncaster Rovers just two from seven – while they are closer on points to the relegation zone than the top six, separated only by Rotherham in a sad pocket of South Yorkshire mediocrity.

The Reds have up to three games in hand on sides around them but will not want to have a large gap to make up to the top teams in a packed schedule in 2026. All games during a winless sequence feel significant, but a local derby against a club also on poor form, with harder matches in theory to come, seems like it could be the difference between ending a relatively short blip and potentially dropping well into lower mid-table.

This is Barnsley’s only league game during a four-week period between the loss to Rotherham United and the visit of Luton on November 22 due to the FA Cup and an international break.

It has been a stop-start campaign since a busy August, making the winless league run seem even more stretched-out and torturous.

The cup victory over York, however it was achieved, is something to build on and a derby win on the road would create more momentum.

But if they don’t win at Doncaster, they will have not won in the league in more than two months since beating Reading on September 13.

It could get bleak quickly with Luton, Stockport, Lincoln and Leyton Orient a tough-looking run.

Performances have not been much better than the results, with the Reds – despite having some outstanding players for the level on their day – often toothless in attack and poor defensively.

They have conceded 32 goals in 18 games this season in all competitions and kept just one clean sheet at Peterborough in August.

The exciting football Conor Hourihane promised in the summer was briefly there early on but has not been consistently present for weeks.

They wanted to dominate set pieces but have scored just two such goals in the league – only Reading have netted fewer – and conceded six.

That is despite only Bolton creating more chances from corners.

WILL REDS GET STUCK IN MID-TABLE?

The Reds need to tell a coherent story to their fans about where they are going as a club so that every poor run does not become a full-blown crisis because at least some of the supporters understand the long-term vision.

Hourihane seemed to start that last week when he spoke about developing younger players and everyone at the club being fully aligned.

But will that last, along with patience with him, if the current five-game winless run in the league extends to six, or eight or ten? You can sell a long-term plan to fans, and there is no better person to do so than a legendary former player, but there will always be an expectation of a promotion push in the third tier – where Barnsley are in danger of spending their longest spell since the 1960s.

The Reds have been much more of a mid-table team in the last two years and there has to be a worry that that is where they will get stuck.

Their current total of 18 points from 12 games is lower than each of the previous three campaigns even though League One is probably not as strong as last season, with no one like Birmingham or Wrexham dominating.

Barnsley have actually been lucky in many ways this season so far. A kind fixture list has seen them play all the current bottom six in their first 12 games – collecting 12 of their points in those games – their first four cup draws were at home, and they have not yet picked up any serious injuries to their small number of proven forwards.

DONNY ON EVEN WORSE FORM

This is the final game of four successive all-Yorkshire clashes in the league and FA Cup for the Reds. After a promising point at Bradford, where they were second best overall but played some good football, a poor home loss to Rotherham and a cup win against non-league York, only a victory in Doncaster would allow them to credibly say this run of games has been positive overall.

Doncaster also won in the cup this weekend, but have not won in the league since they beat Bradford on September 6 to go second.

Their most recent home games were defeats to Northampton and Wimbledon as well as a draw with Burton Albion. Both teams have a much better record in the first half of games than the second. There will inevitably be a nervousness in the home crowd which the Reds must exploit.