BARNSLEY will look to end their mixed run of Yorkshire derbies on a high when they visit fellow off-form side Doncaster Rovers on Saturday in their only league game during a month-long period.
The Reds are currently 11th in League One, with 18 points, seven off the top six and five clear of the relegation zone – having played the fewest games of any side with 12.
Conor Hourihane’s team are winless in their last five league games but won 3-2 at home to non-league York City in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Doncaster are two places below Barnsley on goal difference.
Having won League Two last season, Donny won five of their first seven games this season and were second in September – only off top on goal difference.
But they have taken just two points from their last seven games, the most recent being a 1-1 home draw with Reading before they won 2-1 at League Two Crewe in the FA Cup.
Saturday’s game is Barnsley’s only league fixture between the loss to another neighbour in Rotherham on October 25 and the home game with Luton Town on November 22.
Hourihane told the Chronicle: “It has been a bit tricky from that point of view.
“With that Northampton game being off now, I think we’ll be three games behind some teams which isn’t easy because you see other teams playing when we’re not and you want to get that momentum and consistency in your game.
“We’ve had loads of cup games which have gone OK to keep that feeling going.
“But it’s important on Saturday to get a good performance from the lads because there’s a big gap between the Rotherham game to Doncaster to Luton and to get points on the board is going to be important.
“The schedule drags our current run on a little bit more.
“After Saturday, we don’t have another game for a couple of weeks so, regardless of the result, you are waiting longer to put it right or continue the run.
“After the international break, that’ll stop and we’ll have games relentlessly from November to Christmas and then we can really see where we are at.”
This is a fourth successive all-Yorkshire clash in league and FA Cup games for the Reds who drew at Bradford, lost to Rotherham and beat York.
“Bradford was positive, Rotherham in terms of performance for large spells was positive – I know the result wasn’t what we wanted – York we won in a different type of way.
“If we get a good performance, more than anything, it gives us a chance to get the result we want.”
Doncaster’s manager is Grant McCann who played for the Reds between 2006 and 2008 while his son Bayley is on the books at Oakwell but on loan at Alfreton Town.
Hourihane said: “I have been at a couple of games this season where I’ve seen him and we spoke a couple of times about players over the summer.
“He plays the game in an attacking way and he’s had real good success in League Two and League One.
“I see him as a young bright exciting manager still. I think he plays the game in the right way.”
Hourihane used a back three against York but said he will stick with a back four.
“A back four gets us more attacking players on the pitch. It’s something we’ve really focused on, me getting the role in the first place and the club wanting to go in that direction. It’s something we practised tirelessly over pre-season and it’s important to stick to the plan.”
The Reds have kept just one clean sheet in Hourihane’s 28 games in charge in all competitions.
“More clean sheets would help massively, there is no getting away from that. We’ve watched back the goals, analysed them and tried to become better.
“A lot of them are because of team defending not just the back four.
“We need to be better connected, make teams play around us not through us, stop crosses, give the back line cover.
“A lot of the work we’ve been doing has been to defend from back to front.”
Doncaster defender Matty Pearson spent the 2017/18 season with Barnsley while Reds midfielder Patrick Kelly was on loan to Rovers last season from West Ham.
The teams have met 77 times with Barnsley winning 25 and losing 28.
The last two games were in the EFL Trophy – a 4-2 win for the Reds in Doncaster in 2022 then a 3-1 success for Rovers at Oakwell last season.
The last league meetings were in the 2018/19 season – a 1-1 draw at Oakwell then 0-0 draw in Doncaster.
Barnsley won their first two away games of the season but are now winless in five across nearly three months with three losses followed by 2-2 draws at Wycombe then Bradford. They will be backed by a sold-out away end in Doncaster.
