Barnsley could be set to include two debutants in their squad for the visit of crisis-stricken Portsmouth. Stephen Dawson, who signed from Leyton Orient on transfer deadline day in January has been sidelined with an ankle injury but has trained for the past two weeks, and winger David Cotterill should be included in the squad after signing on a free transfer this week. The 24 year old who was given the middle names George and Best is severely short on match fitness as his last appearance was for Swansea in May, ironically, against Portsmouth.
The Reds midfield has been hit with Michael Tonge missing. The Stoke loanee was forced off just half an hour into Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Burnley and although he has trained this week, the 28 year old will sit out tomorrow’s game. Jay McEveley and Bobby Hassell are also still injured but Jim O’Brien is fully fit after coming off the bench at Turf Moor for his first appearance since Boxing Day.
Team News
Likely Line-Up:
Luke Steele
Scott Wiseman
Stephen Foster
Rob Edwards
Jim McNulty
Korey Smith
David Perkins/ David Cotterill
Stephen Dawson
Matty Done/ Jim O’Brien
Craig Davies
Andy Gray
Head To Head
Last Six Barnsley v Portsmouth Results:
15/10/11 Portsmouth 2-0 Barnsley (Championship)
19/2/11 Portsmouth 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)
20/11/10 Barnsley 1-0 Portsmouth (Championship)
2/2/02 Portsmouth 4-4 Barnsley (Division One)
28/9/01 Barnsley 1-4 Portsmouth (Division One)
6/5/01 Portsmouth 3-0 Barnsley (Division One)
Overall Record:
Barnsley Wins: 17
Portsmouth Wins: 21
Draws: 12
Barnsley Goals: 59
Portsmouth Goals: 69
At Oakwell:
Barnsley Wins: 12
Portsmouth Wins: 7
Draws: 6
Barnsley Goals: 37
Portsmouth Goals: 28
This Season
Last six 2011-2012 results:
Barnsley:
14/2/12 Burnley 2–0 Barnsley (Championship)
4/2/12 Watford 2-1 Barnsley (Championship)
31/1/12 Barnsley 3–2 Derby (Championship)
21/1/12 Barnsley 1–3 Millwall (Championship)
14/1/12 Leicester 1–2 Barnsley (Championship)
7/1/12 Barnsley 2–4 Swansea (FA Cup)
W: 2 D: 0 L: 4 F: 9 A: 15 GD: -6 Points: 6
Portsmouth:
14/2/12 Portsmouth 0-1 Ipswich (Championship)
11/2/12 Blackpool 1-1 Portsmouth (Championship)
7/2/12 Birmingham 1-0 Portsmouth (Championship)
28/1/12 Peterborough 0-3 Portsmouth (Championship)
21/1/12 Cardiff 3-1 Portsmouth (Championship
14/1/12 Portsmouth 0-1 West Ham (Championship)
W: 1 D: 1 L: 4 F: 5 A: 7 GD: -2 Points: 4
Interesting Stats
Tomorrow is the 50th league meeting between Barnsley and Portsmouth.
Barnsley have won only one only one of their last six meetings with Portsmouth but Pompey have won just one of their last 12 visits to Oakwell.
That was 10 years ago and was quite an emphatic win for the South Coast club with Jamie Vincent, Peter Crouch and Lee Bradbury (2) all netting in a 4-1 win.
The return fixture at Fratton Park was even more dramatic with The Reds scoring twice in the last six minutes to come back from 4-2 down to snatch a point. It did not help as Barnsley were relegated at the end of the season.
Barnsley have won six of the last seven Oakwell meetings, including thumping them 6-0 in 1999 when Pompey had two players sent off in the opening 34 minutes and The Reds ran riot scoring through Robin Van Der Laan (2), Darren Barnard, Matty Appleby (2) and Craig Hignett. Along with the 7-1 rout of Huddersfield in 1998 this remains Barnsley’s biggest home win since their record home victory- 9-0 v Loughborough in 1899.
It’s been another difficult week at Portsmouth Football Club, which culminated today (Friday 17th February) with Portsmouth entering administration for the second time in three years and therefore being deducted 10 points. This saw them drop from 18th to 21st in the Championship table but more importantly, go from 10 points clear of the relegation zone to just goal difference.
Tomorrow’s match is remarkably Portsmouth fifth away from home in their last seven. Tuesday’s 1-0 home reverse to Ipswich ended a run of four consecutive away games.
Pompey have won just one of those seven matches – 3-0 at Peterborough at the end of January- and is their only victory on the road in 2012.
The South Coast club have indeed won only twice on the road this season.
Barnsley are though searching for only their second home win this calendar year and are almost on a bad a run as Portsmouth, with just two victories from the last seven.
Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Burnley means The Reds have now gone 14 games since their last clean sheet- the longest the club have gone without a shut out since they conceded in 25 games in a row in the 2002-2003 season- and they have now not drawn a game for 21 matches.
Mad Sites
www.portsmouth-mad.co.uk
Official Sites
Other Fixtures
Friday 17th February 2012:
Reading v Burnley 8pm
Saturday 18th February 2012:
3pm:
Crystal Palace v Watford
Ipswich v Cardiff
Leeds v Doncaster
Nottingham Forest v Coventry
Peterborough v Bristol City
Southampton v Derby