Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Seventeen: Barnsley v Watford

Team News

Bring your boots to tomorrow's game and you might get in the squad! Reds boss Simon Davey has a real selection headache as he is set to be without five first team players. Iain Hume is out for anything up to six months with a fractured skull and his strike partner Jon Macken is struggling to shake off the groin injury that forced him to miss last weeks game with Sheffield United. And since then the midfield has been decimated. Anderson De Silva starts a three match ban after his sending off last Saturday whilst wingers Martin Devaney and Simon Whaley are both ruled out with injury. One plus point is that captain Stephen Foster returns from a one match suspension and should slot back into the defence. It remains to be seen which formation Davey chooses and he could stick with the 4-1-4-1

Likely Line-Up:

Heinz Muller

Rob Kozluk

Darren Moore

Dennis Souza

Stephen Foster ©

Jamal Campbell-Ryce

Hugo Colace

Bobby Hassell

Diego Leon

Mounir El Haimour

Kayode Odejayi

Head to Head

The Reds entertain the manager-less Hornets this weekend looking to make it four wins from four against them. Watford were the only side Barnsley did the "double over last season, winning 3-2 at Oakwell and then brilliantly 3-0 at Vicarage Road.

Goals from Brian Howard, Martin Devaney and a Richard Lee own goal sealed the points at Oakwell in a game where The Reds threw away a 2-0 lead before grabbing a winner when Lewin Nyatanga put enough pressure under Watford keeper Lee to punch the ball into the net.

And then after 16 away games without a win and three days after the FA Cup Semi-Final defeat to Cardiff, The Reds went and thumped Watford 3-0 on their own patch with Wembley villian Kayode Odejayi grabbing a brace and Stephen Foster heading the other.

Ironically though the three successive wins for The Reds followed three successive Watford wins. So its anybodys guess who will win tomorrow!

Barnsley 3-2 Watford Match Report 24/11/07

Last Six Barnsley v Watford Results:

9/4/08 Watford 0-3 Barnsley (Championship)

24/11/07 Barnsley 3-2 Watford (Championship)

23/3/02 Barnsley 2-0 Watford (Division One)

3/11/01 Watford 3-0 Barnsley (Division One)

29/12/00 Barnsley 0-1 Watford (Division One)

19/8/00 Watford 1-0 Barnsley (Division One)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 17

Watford Wins: 15

Draws: 13

Barnsley Goals: 55

Watford Goals: 50

At Oakwell:

Barnsley Wins: 10

Watford Wins: 6

Draws: 6

Barnsley Goals: 30

Watford Goals: 20

This Season:

The last nine months have been nothing short of disastrous for Watford. The Hornets who were in the Premier League two years ago beat Leicester City 1-0 on February 12^th to go top of the Championship. Incredibly they won just one more game for the rest of the season and finished 6^th, making the Play-Offs courtesy of ONE goal. They were promply thumped by Hull and carried that form into this season. A 4-3 home defeat to Blackpool two weeks ago saw Aidy Boothroyd sacked as manager and care-taker Malky Mackay oversaw a 3-1 defeat at Swansea which dropped Watford into the bottom three. They did though beat the same oppotioon 1-0 in midweek in the Carling Cup. It ended a run of four straight defeats.

Barnsley's 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United was their first reversal in five matches as they look to make up for the shocking start to the season. A win tomorrow would put them six points clear of Watford in the final relegation place.

Last Six Results:

Barnsley:

8/11/08 Barnsley 1-2 Sheffield United (Championship)

1/11/08 Charlton 1-3 Barnsley (Championship)

28/10/08 Doncaster 0-1 Barnsley (Championship)

25/10/08 Barnsley 0-0 Bristol City (Championship)

21/10/08 Barnsley 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Championship)

18/10/08 Crystal Palace 3-0 Barnsley (Championship)

W:3 D:1 L:2 F:7 A:7 GD:0 Points:10

11/11/08 Swansea 0-1 Watford (League Cup)

8/11/08 Swansea 3-1 Watford (Championship)

1/11/08 Watford 3-4 Blackpool (Championship)