Team News
Barnsley are without both loanes Danny Drinkwater and Nile Ranger through injury, with Ranger having returned to Newcastle United. This could see an opportunity for either Danny Haynes or Andy Gray to come back into the starting line-up. Gray has not started a game since the 2-0 defeat at Brighton on the 6th November whilst Haynes has not made the first 11 since August. Manager Keith Hill is set to keep Stephen Foster and Bobby Hassell on the bench after Scott Wiseman and Rob Edwards impressed in the narrow defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Likely Line-Up:
Luke Steele
Jay McEveley
Scott Wiseman
Rob Edwards
Jim McNulty
Miles Addison
David Perkins
Jacob Butterfield
Ricardo Vaz Te
Craig Davies
Danny Haynes/Andy Gray
Head To Head
Last Six Barnsley v Blackpool Results:
27/2/10 Barnsley 1-0 Blackpool (Championship)
5/12/09 Blackpool 1-2 Barnsley (Championship)
14/3/09 Barnsley 0-1 Blackpool (Championship)
13/9/08 Blackpool 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)
4/3/08 Barnsley 1-1 Blackpool (Championship)
5/1/08 Barnsley 2-1 Blackpool (FA Cup)
Overall Record:
Barnsley Wins: 40
Blackpool Wins: 27
Draws: 23
Barnsley Goals: 137
Blackpool Goals: 115
At Oakwell:
Barnsley Wins: 27
Blackpool Wins: 12
Draws: 8
Barnsley Goals: 92
Blackpool Goals: 56
This Season
Last six 2011-2012 results:
Barnsley:
17/12/11 West Ham 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)
10/12/11 Barnsley 3–5 Ipswich (Championship)
6/12/11 Barnsley 2–1 Crystal Palace (Championship)
3/12/11 Peterborough 3–4 Barnsley (Championship)
26/11/11 Leeds 1–2 Barnsley (Championship)
19/11/11 Barnsley 2–0 Doncaster (Championship)
W: 4 D: 0 L: 2 F: 13 A: 11 GD: 2 Points: 12
Blackpool:
17/12/11 Blackpool 0-0 Watford (Championship)
10/12/11 Southampton 2-2 Blackpool (Championship)
3/12/11 Blackpool 1-0 Reading (Championship)
29/11/11 Leicester 2-0 Blackpool (Championship)
26/11/11 Blackpool 2-2 Birmingham (Championship)
19/11/11 Middlesbrough 2-2 Blackpool (Championship)
W: 1 D: 4 L: 1 F: 7 A: 8 GD: -1 Points: 7
Interesting Stats
Barnsley go into tomorrow’s encounter with Blackpool eight goals shy of netting 100 against the Tangerines at Oakwell, but Blackpool are just one short of 100 against Barnsley altogether in league matches.
Last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham was the first time Barnsley had failed to score since the 6th November (a total of five matches)
Blackpool have drawn four of their past six matches, three of them by a 2-2 scoreline.
Along with Middlesbrough, Cardiff, Watford and Millwall they are the division’s draw specialists with eight stalemates from their 22 matches.
On the other side of the coin, Barnsley who drew five matches in a row in August and September, have not endured a stalemate in the 13 matches since.
Tomorrow’s match brings us to the halfway point of the season, and if Barnsley lose, they will have exactly the same amount of points as they did after 23 matches last year AND the year before. Victory would give them their highest points total at the halfway stage of a season since the promotion season of 2005-2006, and their highest at this level since the play-off season of 1999-2000.
Barnsley and Blackpool have never met on Boxing Day before but they did play each other the day after back in 1920 when Pools came to Oakwell and won 1-0 in the old Second Division.
Barnsley have won three of their last four matches at home against Blackpool, and the last time they met- in 2009-2010, The Reds did the double over the men from the seaside.
Blackpool have won just twice away from Bloomfield Road this season, their only two away victories in the past 12 months.
Both sides have very good Boxing Day records. Last season’s 2-1 home defeat to Burnley was Barnsley’s first Boxing Day reverse in eight years, whilst Blackpool are undefeated in this festive fixture for the last seven.
Mad Sites
www.blackpool-mad.co.uk
Official Sites
Other Fixtures
Millwall v Portsmouth, 13:00
Southampton v Crystal Palace, 13:00
Coventry v Bristol City, 15:00
Middlesbrough v Hull, 15:00
Nott'm Forest v Peterborough, 15:00
Birmingham v West Ham, 17:30