Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Thirty Six: Barnsley v Nottingham Forest

Team News

Reds boss Mark Robins has three key decisions to make ahead of the visit of promotion chasing Nottingham Forest tonight. Goalkeeper Luke Steele is available again after serving a one match suspension but Robins could stick with David Preece after the 33 year old kept a clean sheet on Saturday. Carl Dickinson and Nathan Doyle are both doubts for tonight after coming off injured against Crystal Palace. Dickinson suffered a kick to the shin in the first half whilst Doyle suffered a migraine in the second half. Doyle is most likely to be fit and Dickinson’s absence could give Luke Potter only his second ever home league start- his other was the 3-0 defeat to Preston back in August.

Likely Lineup:

David Preece

Ryan Shotton

Luke Potter

Stephen Foster

Bobby Hassell

Felipe Teixeira

Adam Hammill

Nathan Doyle

Hugo Colace

Daniel Bogdanovic

Jon Macken

Head To Head

Barnsley have the upper hand over Nottingham Forest in Oakwell meetings having won 18 of the 35 times the two teams have met in South Yorkshire with Forest emerging victorious just eight times- the last of which a 4-3 humdinger in October 2000. This victory is the only time Forest have headed back down the M1 with three points in their last 10 visits stretching back to 1952.

Barnsley have won two of the last three Oakwell meetings but the most recent ended in a stalemate in April last year. The club’s biggest crowd of the 2008-2009 season- 19,681 saw the two teams battle out a 1-1 draw. Jamal Campbell-Ryce gave The Reds the lead with a looping header at the start of the second half, but then missed a penalty before Robert Earnshaw struck to earn Forest a share of the spoils. It was a result that left both sides at the wrong end of the Championship table, but both would survive.

Barnsley were victorious at home in 2005-2006, when they claimed their first double over Forest in 58 years. Goals late in the first half from Barry Conlon and Chris Shuker lifted The Reds into the top half of League One, and of course they would be promoted via the play-offs come May.

The one blemish at home to Forest in recent years arrived in October 2000 in a cracker of a match. Forest stormed into a 3-0 lead courtesy of goals from Chris Bart-Williams (2) and Alan Rogers, before a crazy three minute spell produced three goals! Neil Shipperley brought the score back to 3-2 on 67 and 68 minutes but then Robbie Blake hit Forest’s fourth goal on 69! Bruce Dyer ensured a nervy finish with 10 minutes to go, but The Reds couldn’t force the equaliser.

Teams:

Barnsley: Kevin Miller ,Ward (Sheron ,56 ) ,Morgan ,Regan ,Chettle ,Corbo ,van der Laan (O'Callaghan ,62 ) ,Appleby ,Woan (Barnard ,56 ) ,Shipperley ,Dyer
Subs not used: Lee Jones,McClare,

Nottm Forest: Beasant ,Rogers ,Scimeca ,Edwards ,Bart-Williams ,Louis-Jean ,Doig ,Johnson ,Foy ,Blake (Harewood ,85 ) ,Lester (Jones ,76)
Subs not used Freedman,Williams,Collis,

Unfortunately The Reds record in Nottingham is less impressive as they have won just seven times in 34 trips and only once in the last 11- a 2-0 win in 2005-2006 when Marc Richards hit a stunning brace in front of the SKY cameras.

The Reds have lost the last two City Ground meetings 1-0. Last season The Reds travelled to Nottingham in November to face a Forest side marooned in the relegation zone with just two wins in 19 matches and only one at home. A Joe Garner header however saw Forest claim the three points, and there was more heartbreak last October, when a strike from Guy Moussi in the 94^th minute saw Mark Robins side leave empty handed.

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Barnsley Match Report 20/10/09

Barnsley 1-1 Nottingham Forest Match Report 4/4/09

Nottingham Forest 1-0 Barnsley Match Report 29/11/08

Nottingham Forest 0-2 Barnsley Match Report 27/1/06

Barnsley 2-0 Nottingham Forest Match Report 10/9/05

Last Six Barnsley v Nottingham Forest results:

20/10/09 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)

4/4/09 Barnsley 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Championship)

29/11/08 Nottingham Forest 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)

27/1/06 Nottingham Forest 0-2 Barnsley (League One)

10/9/05 Barnsley 2-0 Nottingham Forest (League One)

12/1/02 Nottingham Forest 0-0 Barnsley (Division One)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 25

Nottingham Forest Wins: 26

Draws: 18

Barnsley Goals: 92

Nottingham Forest Goals: 101

At Oakwell:

Barnsley Wins: 18

Nottingham Forest Wins: 8

Draws: 9

Barnsley Goals: 59

Nottingham Forest Goals: 37

This Season

Nottingham Forest supporters will be hoping a bad start and end to the season will not scupper their hopes of automatic promotion after a fantastic middle lifted them into contention for a return to the Premier League after an 11 year absence.

A 1-0 defeat to Blackpool in mid September left Forest in 19^th position in the table, before their season exploded. They won their next five games- culminating in a 1-0 triumph over Barnsley which formed the start of a 20 match unbeaten run which was finally ended by a 1-0 defeat at fierce rivals Derby in January. Before that defeat at Pride Park, Forest had yet to lose on the road this season and were the last team in the country to lose their unbeaten away record. So you may be amazed to find out that the defeat to the Rams has started a run on the road of five successive defeats heading into tonight’s game. Forest have lost 1-0 at Coventry and Doncaster and then at the weekend lost 3-2 at Preston, where Preston led 3-0 with just over half an hour played. And despite that impressive away run which would stretch to 13 matches, they won only four of them- Barnsley have won six away games this season, and Forest’s last away success was the very impressive 3-1 win at fellow top two hunters West Brom at the start of January.

It is Forest’s home form that is keeping them in race for automatic promotion with Newcastle and the Baggies. Forest have won 14 matches at the City Ground this season- the joint highest number of home wins in the Football League along with Newcastle and Norwich and they have won their last six matches on their home patch.

The Reds will also have to be wary about Forest scoring in the first half. Billy Davies’ side are the only team in the division who have won every game when leading at half-time (13)

Barnsley are aiming to do to Forest tonight what they have managed to do at least once to everybody else in the league’s top seven places- win or draw with them. Forest are the only side in the top seven who The Reds have not taken at least a point off so far this season after taking one from Newcastle, three from West Brom, one from Swansea, three from Leicester and six from both Cardiff and Blackpool. Whilst Forest have won every game when leading at half time, Barnsley have a good record at coming from behind to claim the spoils having done this on four occasions- only West Brom (6 times) have done it more.

If Forest win tonight it would be their first league double over Barnsley since 2000-2001 when they won 4-3 at Oakwell and 1-0 at the City Ground

Record for 16^th March:

Nottingham Forest have a pretty solid record on the 16^th March having won eight of the 20 matches played and lost just five. They haven’t won on this date though since 1994 when they won 2-1…..against Barnsley! They met at the City Ground on this date 16 years ago when goals from Colin Cooper and David Phillips won the day, Gerry Taggart replied for The Reds. That is Forest’s only win in their last eight matches on this date but they have claimed some notable results, such as drawing 1-1 with Manchester United in 1991, and their most recent game, a 0-0 draw at home to Leeds in 2005.

Barnsley have a shocking record on the 16^th March having lost four of their last five matches on this date, including the one at Forest. The Reds haven’t secured a 16^th March victory since 1982 (a run of eight games) when they won 4-3 at Luton. They were on a run of four straight defeats which they ended on their last game on this date- drawing 1-1 at Oldham in 2004. Daniel Nardiello had given The Reds a first half lead but Paul Murray equalised for the Latics.

Overall playing record for 16^th March:

Nottingham Forest: Played 20, Won 8, Drawn 7, Lost 5, Scored 34, Conceded 21

Barnsley: Played 19, Won 5, Drawn 5, Lost 9, Scored 22, Conceded 30

Last six 2009-2010 Results

Barnsley:

13/3/10 Barnsley 0-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

6/3/10 Newcastle 6-1 Barnsley (Championship)

27/2/10 Barnsley 1-0 Blackpool (Championship)

20/2/10 Cardiff 0-2 Barnsley (Championship)

16/2/10 Scunthorpe 2-1 Barnsley (Championship)

13/2/10 Barnsley 1-3 Plymouth (Championship)

W: 2 D: 1 L: 3 F: 6 A: 11 GD: -5 Points: 7