Jamie McCart could be back in Barnsley’s squad for tomorrow night’s trip to Shrewsbury Town but Donovan Pines may play for the under 21s instead.
January signing Pines has not played a competitive game for almost six months and played the first hour of a friendly last week for the under 21s, who are in action again at Sheffield United tomorrow evening.
Head coach Neill Collins told the Chronicle: “Donovan has only played an hour against Notts County under 21s and his previous game was October. I have to give him a chance to be successful. We’ve spoken about it but I think it’s a big ask to start him at Shrewsbury. He definitely could feature for the under 21s.”
McCart, a centre-back like Pines, has missed the last six games with a calf problem. Collins said: “Jamie comes back into contention. But we need to consider he’s only played once in seven or eight weeks.”
Midfielder Josh Benson has missed the last three months with injury. Collins said: “Josh will be back in training with the group on Thursday which is a huge boost. We need to get him one or two games with the 21s. But he will definitely make an impact this season.”
Centre-back Robbie Cundy has been out all season. Collins said: “Robbie has really progressed. He was out on the grass today (Monday) doing fitness work. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities that he could play this season. He’s missed a lot so we need to make sure he’s fully fit. But for him personally it’s just great to be out running and training.”
Midfielder Matty Wolfe has been out for more than a year with a serious knee injury.
“Matty has had a small setback but we’ve dealt with it and hopefully we can push on from there.”
