Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Thirty: Bristol City v Barnsley

Team News

Diego Leon will miss the trip to Ashton Gate after coming off at half-time in midweek with a pulled hamstring. Due to his inept performance it's unlikely he will be missed. Hugo Colace is also expected to miss out for the fourth successive game as he is only expected to return to training today. Rob Kozluk is back from suspension and Daniel Bogdanovic is expected to continue upfront after scoring on his debut against Ipswich.

Likely Line-Up:

Heinz Muller

Rob Kozluk

Dennis Souza

Darren Moore

Bobby Hassell

Martin Devaney

Anderson De Silva

Mounir El Haimour

Jamal Campbell-Ryce

Jon Macken

Daniel Bogdanovic

Head to Head

If your thinking of having a bet on this game it should be on Dennis Souza to score. The Brazilian defender has notched two goals for Barnsley since arriving in the summer of 2007, and both of them have come against Bristol City. He scored one in the 3-0 Oakwell triumph in October 2007 and then one in a 3-2 defeat at Ashton Gate in December of that year.

Bristol has not been a particularly happy hunting ground for The Reds but then Oakwell has never been pleasant for City. The Reds have won just four out of 39 visits down there but City have won just seven of 41 visits up to South Yorkshire. The last win for Barnsley down at the Gate arrived in October 1993 when strikes from Ian Bryson and Neil Redfearn secured a 2-0 win. In the eight visits since The Reds have pocketed just three points. They should have had at least a point last season when they led twice at Ashton Gate through Jon Macken and Souza but a Darren Byfield header in the final minute saw City take all the points. The game was infamous for the sending off of Jamal Campbell-Ryce for "diving" in the penalty area when TV replays clearly showed he was tripped.

The earlier meeting at Oakwell however saw one of the best performances by a Barnsley team in recent years. City came into the game unbeaten after their promotion from League One but second half goals from Brian Howard, Souza and Martin Devaney saw The Reds storm to a 3-0 win and into the heady heights of fourth in the Championship.

A 2-0 Oakwell success in February 2006 courtesy of a brace from Marc Richards ironically lifted Barnsley into fourth in League One and went a long way to helping secure a play-off spot and eventually promotion.

This season's Oakwell meeting finished 0-0 despite Barnsley dominating the game. City failed to register a single shot on target.

Barnsley 0-0 Bristol City Match Report 25/10/08

Barnsley 3-0 Bristol City Match Report 2/10/07

Barnsley 2-0 Bristol City Match Report 4/2/06

Last six Bristol City v Barnsley Results:

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

22/12/07 Bristol City 3-2 Barnsley (Championship)

2/10/07 Barnsley 3-0 Bristol City (Championship)

4/2/06 Barnsley 2-0 Bristol City (League One)

27/9/05 Bristol City 3-0 Barnsley (League One)

12/3/05 Bristol City 0-0 Barnsley (League One)

Overall Record:

Bristol City Wins: 35

Barnsley Wins: 28

Draws: 17

Bristol City Goals: 137

Barnsley Goals: 120

At Bristol City:

Bristol City Wins: 28

Barnsley Wins: 4

Draws: 7

Bristol City Goals: 89

Barnsley Goals: 31

This Season

Bristol City suffered something of a play-off hangover at the start of 2008-2009. The Robins were beaten in the Play-Off final by Hull last season and won just two of their opening six games of this campaign. Their biggest slump was in November/December where The Robins went on a eight game winless streak which dropped them to 18^th in the table. They have followed up though with three wins from their past four games, drawing the other 2-2 to league leaders Wolves after being 2-0 down. This turn of form has lifted them up to 12^th , but still seven points off the play-off places. They gained a fantastic 2-0 win at Plymouth on Tuesday thanks to goals from ex-red Michael McIndoe and Liam Fontaine.

Barnsley have now equalled their worst run of the season as Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Ipswich was their fourth reverse on the trot! They did manage to get their first goal of 2009 in that game but are still looking for their first point. If they lose tomorrow it will be their longest run of losing games for eight years. They lost five in a row in 2000-2001.

Last Six Results:

Bristol City:

27/1/09 Plymouth 0-2 Bristol City (Championship)

17/1/09 Bristol City 2-2 Wolves (Championship)

13/1/09 Bristol City 0-2 Portsmouth (FA Cup Replay)

3/1/09 Portsmouth 0-0 Bristol City (FA Cup)

28/12/08 Bristol City 1-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

26/12/08 Watford 2-4 Bristol City (Championship

W:3 D:2 L:1 F:9 A:6 GD:+3 Points:10

Barnsley:

27/1/09 Barnsley 1-2 Ipswich (Championship)

17/1/09 Norwich 4-0 Barnsley (Championship)