Barnsley will ‘go for it’ when they host title contenders Cardiff City on Tuesday from 7.45pm says Conor Hourihane.
The Reds are 12th, eight points off the top six with several games in hand on some teams including this midweek match.
The Welsh club are second and eight points clear in the two automatic promotion places.
They were unbeaten in 12 league games before being thrashed 5-2 at Plymouth then they won 4-0 at Doncaster Rovers. They lost 2-0 on Saturday at home to Lincoln City who replaced them in top spot.
Head coach Conor Hourihane told the Chronicle: “It's going to be a challenging game. We all know that.
“They're a very, very good side. We've already looked at the tapes and looked at the game and how we're going to approach that.
“We're going into it in decent form. Let's go for it.
“They're a very good side for the level, and there's no doubt that they'll get promoted and be in the top two, whether it's first or second.
“I don't think it (their recent form) changes anything. We need to be at our very best to try and get a result. And then we've got big games as well after that.”
Cardiff have an excellent record against Barnsley who lost 4-0 in the Welsh capital in late January.
Reds midfielder Vimal Yoganathan knows several of the Cardiff players from the Wales youth teams. He said: “We played them earlier in the year and it didn’t go well. We will all learn from that. We need to defend well, stay together then, when we get on the ball, connect passes and we have quality going forward - Didzy (David McGoldrick) has been unbelievable the last couple of games.
“As long as we take care defensively, we have faith that, going forwards, we will be alright.”
City have won 30 of the 58 meetings, losing 14, and are unbeaten in ten – with seven wins – since 2016 when Barnsley won 4-3 away.
The Bluebirds have not lost in eight games at Oakwell, winning six and conceding just four goals.
Their last loss there was a 1-0 defeat in 2009 thanks to a last-minute Carl Dickinson free-kick.
Their last visit was in February 2022 when a relegation-bound Barnsley team under Poya Asbaghi lost 1-0 to an Uche Ikpeazu strike.
