Luke Steele is set to miss the first game of a season for the first time in five years as he struggles to overcome the hernia injury that finished his 2011-2012 campaign in March.
The 27 year old has started the first game of each season since he joined the club but has almost been forced to admit defeat in his battle to make the Capital One Cup tie with Rochdale a week on Saturday, and even the Npower Championship opener against Middlesbrough the following weekend.
The former Manchester United youngster is yet to feature for Keith Hill’s side in pre-season with new signing Ben Alnwick having started all four summer games (and played the full 90 minutes in three of them.)
Steele has not played for Barnsley since the 4-0 home defeat by Reading on the 17th March and he told the local media at the club’s annual open day on Sunday:
"I'm not definitely out for the start of season but I'm struggling to make it to be honest.
"There’s nothing I can do at the moment, unfortunately. I’m not training with the other lads at the minute because I’m having a lot of physio to try and get things right. It has been a frustrating time because you want to put in the hard yards doing pre-season to be in tip-top shape and be ready for the start of the new season.
“It’s a case of seeing how my groin reacts over the next week or so, but there's been plenty of bruising and at this stage it’s definitely going to be a bit of a push for the cup game at Rochdale, and even the home fixture against Middlesbrough the week after that.”
This will probably mean 25 year old Alnwick starts between the posts at Spotland, which will be his first competitive appearance since appearing in an FA Cup tie for Leyton Orient back in December. Incidentally it will also be the first time the former Tottenham shotstopper has started a season with the number one jersey since he opened the 2006-2007 campaign with Sunderland.