Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Seven: Southampton v Barnsley

Team News

Under-Pressure Barnsley boss Simon Davey could be able to name Brazilian midfielder Anderson De Silva in his squad for the first time since February in a game which could decide whether Davey remains at Oakwell or is fired. De Silva came through 90 minutes of a behind closed doors game with Rochdale last night unscathed and should be on the bench at least. Striker Iain Hume should be fit to start again after jet lag whilst Martin Devaney has recovered from the illness that kept him out of Tuesday's defeat to Cardiff. Davey may also look to freshen up his line-up after five defeats in six.

Luke Steele

Rob Kozluk

Darren Moore

Dennis Souza

Stephen Foster

Jamal Campbell-Ryce

Brian Howard ©

Hugo Colace

Martin Devaney

Iain Hume

Kayode Odejayi

Since Barnsley returned to the Championship two years ago they have only won nine games on the road, one of which came at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium last season. That though is The Reds only victory at Southampton since the 1950's and the results since a 2-1 victory at the Dell do not make happy reading. In between that and the victory last season the results have been 2-1, 4-1 and 5-2 in Southampton's favour with a 2-1 FA Cup success for Barnsley in between. In total Barnsley have won just seven times down on the South Coast.

Barnsley did manage to take four points off Southampton last season, an epic 3-2 win at St Mary's Stadium where Barnsley threw away a 2-0 lead in the 90^th minute before Martin Devaney struck a dramatic winner deep in injury time before The Reds again threw away a 2-0 lead at Oakwell to draw 2-2. The last six meetings between the two sides have all produced at least four goals and ironically the two sides face each other at St Mary's Stadium on the same weekend as they did last season! Hopefully it will be the same result….

Barnsley 2-2 Southampton Match Report (29/12/07)

Barnsley 2-2 Southampton Match Report (19/8/06)

Last 6 Barnsley v Southampton Results:

29/12/07 Barnsley 2-2 Southampton (Championship)

22/9/07 Southampton 2-3 Barnsley (Championship)

17/2/07 Southampton 5-2 Barnsley (Championship)

19/8/06 Barnsley 2-2 Southampton (Championship)

14/3/98 Barnsley 4-3 Southampton (Premier League)

8/11/97 Southampton 4-1 Barnsley (Premier League)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 21

Southampton Wins: 19

Draws: 12

Barnsley Goals: 82

Southampton Goals: 93

At Southampton:

Barnsley Wins: 7

Southampton Wins: 14

Draws: 5

Barnsley Goals: 26

Southampton Goals: 59

It's a clash between two sides in the bottom three of the Championship and in desperate need of points. Barnsley and Southampton are two of seven sides with just one victory to their names but Southampton's 2-2 draw with Ipswich last night means they have a point more than The Reds. Both sides only victory of the season came against Derby County, Southampton winning 1-0 at Pride Park and Barnsley defeating The Rams 2-0 at Oakwell.

It has been a few difficult seasons for Southampton, FA Cup Finalists in 2003 and relegated from the top flight of English football in 2005 after 27 consecutive years at the top table. Since then they have been close to returning just once, when they reached the Play-Off Semi-Finals in 2007 but they needed a last victory over Sheffield United last season to avoid dropping into the third tier of English football for the first since 1959-60. It could take something similar this season for them and for Barnsley.

Barnsley:

16/9/08 Barnsley 0-1 Cardiff (Championship)

13/9/08 Blackpool 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)

30/8/08 Barnsley 2-0 Derby (Championship)

23/8/08 Birmingham 2-0 Barnsley (Championship)

16/8/08 Barnsley 1-2 Coventry (Championship)

12/8/08 Crewe 2-0 Barnsley (League Cup)

W:1 D:0 L:5 F:3 A:8 GD:-5 Points: 3

Southampton:

17/9/08 Southampton 2-2 Ipswich (Championship)

14/9/08 QPR 4-1 Southampton (Championship)

30/8/08 Southampton 0-1 Blackpool (Championship)

26/8/08 Southampton 2-0 Birmingham (League Cup)

23/8/08 Derby 0-1 Southampton (Championship)

16/8/08 Southampton 1-2 Birmingham (Championship)

W:2 D:1 L:3 F:7 A:9 GD:-2 Points: 4

Barnsley lie 24^th n the Coca-Cola Championship with 3 points from 6 games.

Southampton lie 22^nd in the Coca-Cola Championship with 4 point from 6 games.