Npower Championship Matchday Five: Norwich City v Barnsley

Team News:

Reds boss Mark Robins has just one injury doubt ahead of the trip to bogey side Norwich City. Argentine midfielder Hugo Colace suffered a knock in training and will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness. If Colace is forced out it could pave the way for a first start for Scottish star Jim O’Brien. The 22 year old is now back to full fitness and played the full 90 minutes in the reserves 6-2 defeat to Derby on Wednesday night. Robins is also expected to stick with the 4-4-1-1 formation that has yielded seven points from the first four games.

Likely Lineup:

Luke Steele

Jay McEveley

Jason Shackell

Stephen Foster

Bobby Hassell

Adam Hammill

Diego Arismendi

Hugo Colace/ Jim O’Brien

Kieran Trippier

Goran Lovre

Andy Gray

Head To Head:

Barnsley supporters will now be relishing the three and a half hour trek to Carrow Road tomorrow, if the last few trips are anything to go by. The Reds have conceded 10 goals in their last three trips alone, and have won just three times in 19 visits.

Last time out Norwich triumphed 4-0, at a time when both sides were in relegation trouble and Norwich had lost four of their last five matches. To add insult to injury that day in January 2009, Jamie Cureton- who had just returned to the Canaries after a three month loan at Oakwell- grabbed one of the goals.

Teams:

Norwich: Marshall, Otsemobor, Doherty, Grounds, Bertrand, Croft (Bell, 89 ) , Clingan, Fotheringham,Hoolahan (Pattison, 80 ) , Cureton (Lupoli, 83 ) , Russell
Subs not used: Nelson,Cort,

Barnsley: Muller, Van Homoet, Moore, Guedes, Kozluk, De Silva, Hassell, Leon ( Butterfield, 52 ) ,Campbell-Ryce, Macken, Rigters ( Odejayi, 61 )
Subs not used: Steele, El Haimour, Potter,

That though isn’t the biggest thumping Barnsley have received in East Anglia in recent years however. In their first season back in the Championship in 2006, The Reds travelled to Carrow Road in their third away match of the season. Despite having won their opening two matches on the road it counted for nothing, as a 10 man Barnsley side were crushed 5-1! The score-line was goal-less when Antony Kay was shown a straight red card for hauling down Robert Earnshaw after 12 minutes. Replays indicated the foul took place outside the box, but referee Ian Williamson pointed to the spot and gave Kay his marching orders. Earnshaw picked himself up to despatch the penalty and Carl Robinson doubled the lead just before the half hour mark. Paul Hayes hauled The Reds back into the game on 38 minutes, but Norwich made their man advantage count after the break with Lee Croft, Darren Huckerby and Earnshaw again finding a way past Nick Colgan.

Teams:

Norwich: Gallacher, Colin, Doherty, Shackell (Fleming, 86 ) , Drury, Etuhu, Safri, Robinson (McKenzie, 75 ) , Huckerby, Croft (McVeigh, 70 ) , Earnshaw
Subs not used: Lewis,Hughes,

Barnsley: Colgan, Hassell, Reid, Kay(sent off 12), Williams ( Tonge, 62 ) , Devaney ( Healy, 72 ) ,Togwell, Howard, McIndoe, Hayes, Richards ( Wright, 65 )
Subs not used: Mannone, Atkinson,

The other meeting in the Championship was less of a goal-fest, but The Reds still returned empty handed. In February 2008- a week after winning at Anfield- a Cureton strike secured a 1-0 success for Norwich.

Teams:

Norwich: Marshall, Otsemobor, Pearce, Doherty, Bertrand, Croft, Gibbs, Pattison (Velasco, 89 ) ,Huckerby, Cureton, Evans (Henry, 81 )
Subs not used: Gilks,Shackell,Eagle,

Barnsley: Steele, Hassell, Foster, Guedes, Kozluk, Devaney, De Silva ( Van Homoet, 39 ) , Leon (Odejayi, 58 ) , Howard, Nardiello ( Macken, 58 ) , Ferenczi
Subs not used: Nyatanga, Campbell-Ryce,

It is now 73 long years since The Reds did emerge victorious from a trip to Norwich. A 1-0 win on the final day of the 1936-37 season is the last time. Both sides ended that campaign midtable in the Second Division.

Barnsley’s recent home record against Norwich is not pretty either. In the 17 Oakwell meetings, both sides have won six apiece with Norwich winning three of the last four. The Reds haven’t defeated Norwich at Oakwell since a 1-0 success on the opening day of the 2000-2001 season. After the heart-break of Play-Off Final defeat to Ipswich the previous season, a debut goal from Lee Jones got Barnsley off to a winning start. They would not maintain that however, finishing a lowly 16^th, before the following season it would be Norwich who would send The Reds down to the third tier of English football for the first time in 21 years. A 5-1 defeat at champions-elect Manchester City meant The Reds needed to win their final home game- against the Canaries- to stand any hope of surviving. They lost 2-0, which confirmed relegation.

The three home meetings in the Championship have not yielded any wins either. The two sides played out a goal-less draw last season, but the two before ended in 3-1 defeats, with the one in January 2008 ending Barnsley’s 14 match unbeaten home run which had stretched back to the opening game of the season.

27/9/08 Barnsley 0-0 Norwich Match Report

12/1/08 Barnsley 1-3 Norwich Match Report

3/3/07 Barnsley 1-3 Norwich Match Report

Last Six Norwich City v Barnsley results: