Carling Cup Fourth Round: Barnsley v Manchester United

Barnsley host Manchester United in the fourth round of the League Cup after seeing off Lincoln City, Reading and Burnley in the previous rounds, but will they come unstuck against the Red Devils of Lancashire.

Both the Tykes and the Red Devils came head to head four times during the 1997/98 season whilst the Owkwell club were in the Premier League - it being their salutary season. However the Lancashire club ran riot, claiming a 7-0 (Andy Cole hat-trick) rout in Manchester and a final day 2-0 win back in South Yorkshire.

A week after after that 7-0 drumming the Old Trafford side claimed a 6-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday; and in the FA Cup the two sides met again but after a 1-1 draw a replay was taken to Oakwell where a resilient Tykes side over came the Kings of Football to book a place in the following round with a narrow 3-2 victory.

They guided their way into the fourth round of this season's Carling Cup competition partially due to the involvement of former boss Simon Davey who scooped wins at Lincoln City (1-0) and Reading (2-1) before his departure. New manager Mark Robins took them into the fourth round with a 3-2 home win over Premier League outfit Burnley!

The S71 club will be without the services of four key players - all of whom are cup-tied; striker Andy Gray played in Charlton Athletic's 1-0 defeat at Hereford in round one, midfielder Nathan Doyle featured in Hull City's second round tie with Southend United (won 3-1) whilst defensive duo Ryan Shotton and Carl Dickenson (on loan from Stoke City) played in the Potters second round win at Leyton Orient (1-0).

Despite being cup-tied defender Ryan Shotton is illegible to play after he was shown a straight red card in the Reds 3-2 home defeat to Bristol City last Saturday.

Fellow defender Bobby Hassell also could be out of contention via an Achilles injury, he is however ready to return (though short of match fitness) to first team action but this may be a game too soon.

Reds boss Mark Robins could call upon the services of former Manchester United players Luke Steele (goalkeeper) and striker Jonathan Macken against their former club in this Carling Cup tie.

Shot stopper Steele joined the Manchester club from Peterborough United in March 2002; initially on loan before completing a £500,000 deal two months later. However during his time at Old Trafford he never made a professional appearance and was shipped out on loan to Coventry City before signing for West Bromwich Albion in August 2006.

As for Macken, he started his career with the Red Devils, and like Steele he failed to make a first team appearance and was sold to local side Preston North End in August 1997. He can also list Manchester City as one of his former clubs.

Barnsley boss Mark Robins also turned out for the Old Trafford club as a player; he started off as a trainee in December 1986, making his league debut in April 1989 in a 2-0 defeat against Derby County - in all he made a total of 27 (44) appearances and scored 15 goals before joining Norwich City in August 1992.

Possible Tykes Line-Up: Luke Steele, Bobby Hassell, Stephen Foster, Darren Moore, Robert Kozluk, Anderson de Silva, Hugo Roberto Colace, Emil Halfredsson, Adam Hammill, Iain Hume, Jonathan Macken.

	STEELE
HASSELL	FOSTER	MOORE	KOZLUK
ANDERSON	COLACE	HALLFREDSSON	HAMMILL
	HUME	MACKEN

Manchester United saw two of their big name stars depart Old Trafford this summer; Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) and Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) left to their respected clubs and were replaced by former Liverpool and Newcastle United striker Michael Owen, who joined on a free transfer.

The former England forward's arrival came under fire from their army of followers and the striker was classed as the 'black sheep' of Old Trafford, however he soon won over the hearts of their adoring fans when he netted five minutes into stoppage time to hand the Red Devils an historic 4-3 victory over bitter rivals City.

The Lancashire club booked a place into the fourth round of the Carling Cup after a one-nil home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers - youngster Danny Wellbeck (66 minutes) netted in front of a 51,160 crowd. They entered the competition at the third round stage due to their involvement in the UEFA Champions League.

Sir Alex Ferguson will travel to Oakwell without the services of Owen Hargreaves, the England international midfielder has been sidelined for twelve months following a knee injury - however he is close to a return and could be named on the substitutes bench for this Carling Cup tie.

Meanwhile Wayne Rooney (calf) is also expected to be sidelined, as is Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov wh are all listed as doubtful, however it is unlikely that if fit they will feature against the Tykes and would most probably be used in their heavy weight clash with Liverpool which took place this weekend.

Possible Red Devils Line-Up: Tomasz Kuszczak, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Da Silva Fabio, Johny Evans, Luis Carlos Nani, Darron Gibson, Michael Carrick, Federico Macheda, Danny Wellbeck, Michael Owen.

	KUSZCAK
NEVILLE	FABIO	EVANS	BROWN
MACHEDA	CARRICK	GIBSON	NANI
	WELLBECK	OWEN

Prediction: Barnsley 1-3 Manchester United

:: Statistics ::

For Head to Head statistics please click here.

Last 10 Games... Home & Away

1997/1998	Sun 10 May	Barnsley	0 - 2	Man. Utd.	Premiership
	Wed 25 Feb	Barnsley	3 - 2	Man. Utd.	F.A. Cup
	Sun 15 Feb	Man. Utd.	1 - 1	Barnsley	F.A. Cup
	Sat 25 Oct	Man. Utd.	7 - 0	Barnsley	Premiership
1963/1964	Sat 15 Feb	Barnsley	0 - 4	Man. Utd.	F.A. Cup
1937/1938	Wed 02 Feb	Barnsley	2 - 2	Man. Utd.	Second Division
	Wed 26 Jan	Man. Utd.	1 - 0	Barnsley	F.A. Cup
	Sat 22 Jan	Barnsley	2 - 2	Man. Utd.	F.A. Cup
	Sat 11 Sep	Man. Utd.	4 - 1	Barnsley	Second Division
1935/1936	Wed 01 Jan	Barnsley	0 - 3	Man. Utd.	Second Division

Head to Head Statistics...					Goals
Venue	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
Home	19	4	8	7	19	30
Away	18	1	3	14	8	44
Total	37	5	11	21	27	74

* Statistics correct up to and including 01/08/2009
Wins are in favour of Barnsley

:: Match Officials ::

Referee: C. Foy
Assistants: J. Collin & R. West
Fourth Official: A. Hall