Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Ten: Barnsley v West Bromwich Albion

Team News

New signing Bartosz Bialkowski is set for his debut after signing on a week's loan from Southampton today, with Luke Steele and David Preece both injured. Suad Filekovic could be included in the squad for the first time whilst Darren Moore, Emil Hallfredsson and Jon Macken should all return too. It remains to be seen what changes Mark Robins makes to his defence after giving three new players their debuts together backfired on Saturday. Carl Dickinson should keep his place ahead of Rob Kozluk but Moore could replace Ryan Shotton.

Likely Line-Up:

Bartosz Bialkowski

Carl Dickinson

Stephen Foster

Darren Moore

Nathan Doyle

Adam Hammill

Anderson De Silva

Hugo Colace

Emil Hallfredsson

Andy Gray

Iain Hume

Head to Head

Despite both teams being at opposite ends of the table, Barnsley should be pretty confident going into tonight's game as it is 62 years or 16 matches since West Brom returned to the West Midlands with three points from Oakwell. Since then there has been eight wins and eight draws and the Baggies have only "boinged" from Oakwell six times in 31 visits. Draws seem to be the order of the day however and there have been 12 of those at the "Well" with Barnsley wins just ahead on 13.

Some Barnsley fans will feel that this could change with the Baggies being near the top and The Reds at the bottom, but the same was true the last time the two sides met in 2007-2008. At the time The Reds were 17^th and had just been thumped 4-0 at Coventry whilst Albion were top. The Reds though ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a fine solo goal from Danny Nardiello (the only one he scored on his loan return) and an effort from Jon Macken.

Barnsley 2-1 West Brom Match Report 9/2/08

Barnsley 1-1 West Brom Match Report 10/12/06

Last Six Barnsley v West Brom Results:

9/2/08 Barnsley 2-1 West Brom (Championship)

1/9/07 West Brom 2-0 Barnsley (Championship)

6/5/07 West Brom 7-0 Barnsley (Championship)

10/12/06 Barnsley 1-1 West Brom (Championship)

30/3/02 West Brom 3-1 Barnsley (Division One)

28/10/01 Barnsley 3-2 West Brom (Championship)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 21

West Brom Wins: 23

Draws: 21

Barnsley Goals: 95

West Brom Goals: 116

At Oakwell:

Barnsley Wins: 13

West Brom Wins: 6

Draws: 12

Barnsley Goals: 49

West Brom Goals: 37

This Season

After coasting to the Championship title in 2007-2008 and then exiting rather limply from the Premier League last season, West Brom- under new manager Roberto Di Matteo are aiming to bounce back at the first attempt. They are certainly going the right way about it. Saturday's 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace was their first reverse of the season and it knocked them off the top of the league. They are certainly the form team in the division though having rattled in 20 goals in their nine league matches and winning six games.

Barnsley meanwhile are still looking for their first home league win since March. Seeing off Burnley in the Carling Cup is one thing but points are most important right now and in the league this season The Reds have drawn one and lost three of their four home games, scoring just the once. Saturday's 5-2 defeat at QPR on Saturday also means they have the joint worst defensive record in the division along with fellow relegation zone incumbents Ipswich.

Last Six 2009-2010 Results

Barnsley:

26/12/09 QPR 5-2 Barnsley (Championship)

22/9/09 Barnsley 3-2 Burnley (Carling Cup)

19/9/09 Barnsley 0-0 Swansea (Championship)

15/9/09 Derby 2-3 Barnsley (Championship)

12/9/09 Watford 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)

29/8/09 Barnsley 1-3 Reading (Championship)

W:2 D:1 L:3 F:9 A:13 GD:-4 Points: 4

West Brom:

26/9/09 West Brom 0-1 Crystal Palace (Championship)

22/9/09 Arsenal 2-0 West Brom (Carling Cup)