Jacob Brown is set to miss at least the opening Championship game of the season, while Kieffer Moore and Dani Pinillos may not be ready to start by then.

Barnsley host Fulham in eight days on August 3, their first match back in the second tier following last season’s promotion from League One. Winger Brown, 21, was one of the star players during the promotion run-in, finishing his first full season with eight goals and eight assists. 

He was injured in the final home game of the last campaign against Blackpool in April then returned for a friendly in Toulon earlier this month but suffered a setback. 

Assistant coach Dale Tonge said: “Jacob is a few weeks away from being ready to play a game and he won’t be fit for the first match of the season.”

Jordan Green, Brown’s fellow right winger and a former Fulham youth player, is also injured and unlikely to play in the season-opener, so Luke Thomas seems the main candidate to start in that position.

Meanwhile, striker Moore – last season’s top-scorer with 19 goals – has come off the bench in the final ten minutes of the last two friendlies as he recovers from an injury sustained while on international duty with Wales. Tonge said: “Kieffer is just on his way back. He had quite a length of time off.

“We’re hopeful he can be involved against Sheffield United (tomorrow). He is progressing and we’re hoping his fitness will get better in the next few days.”

Left-back Pinillos has not been involved in the friendlies after an operation on his eye which he damaged last season. Tonge said: “Dani is back in training. He’s quite a bit behind the rest of the boys but he’s very similar to Kieffer in that we will keep progressing him gradually and try to get him some minutes as we move closer to the start of the season.”

Kenny Dougall, the central midfielder who suffered a fractured leg in March, is likely to miss the first month of the season.  Tonge said: “Kenny had a slight setback but he is still progressing. He’s done some outdoor work and a lot of indoor work.”