Barnsley will be hoping to improve the worst away record in the top five tiers of English football when they visit in-form Cardiff City tomorrow. 

The Reds have drawn two and lost seven of their nine matches while their six away goals scored is the Championship’s lowest number. They have not won away from home in 229 dayssince a 3-0 success at Plymouth Argyle in League One on Easter Monday.  Their last away Championship victory was at Birmingham City in February of last year, after which they have picked up just three points from 16 second tier games on the road.

Struber said: “It’s very important that we create points away from home.  We have the chance to do that in Cardiff.  We have the quality and it’s very important that we concentrate for a long time in the game.  I hope we can make three points with a very good performance.

"We always look at the opponent, where we can get spaces and create overloads. It’s not about being away or home, it’s only the opponent.” 

Cardiff are tenth in the table, three points off the play-offs and 16 clear of last-placed Barnsley. The Bluebirds have lost just once at home this season, with six wins and two draws which means they have the fourth-best record in the division on their own turf. Their only home loss this season in the league came last month against near neighbours Bristol City. 

After that game which left them 14th in the table, Neil Warnock – the former Barnsley player who led Cardiff to the Premier League for last season in which they were relegated – left the club by mutual consent.  Neil Harris, who left Millwall earlier in the season, was appointed as Warnock’s replacement and has seven points from his first three games. After they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Charlton Athletic in his first game, they beat Stoke City 1-0 at home.

They then won 1-0 at high-flying Nottingham Forest – their first away victory of the campaign – despite the hosts having 69 per cent possession and 32 shots. Struber said: “It will be a very tough game. We expect an opponent with big strength in set play situations and a team with a lot of strength to break the rhythm of our game. It is a new situation when the trainer is new and has new ideas. I think the matchplan of Cardiff is similar to the old coach and we must have a big attention in set plays and focus on our positioning. If we do this, Cardiff will have problems against us.”

Harris lost his first four matches against Barnsley as Millwall boss, including the 2016 League One play-off final at Wembley, but his Lions side then won twice early last year – 4-1 at home in the FA Cup then 2-0 at Oakwell in the league. This will be the 52nd meeting of the clubs, with Barnsley winning 14 and losing 25.

Cardiff did the double over the Reds during the 2017/18 Championship season, with the Reds going down 1-0 at home under Paul Heckingbottom then losing 2-1 in Wales with Oli McBurnie pulling one back for Jose Morais’ men.  Barnsley’s previous trip saw them win 4-3 in December 2016 as the hosts came from 3-1 down to level before Ryan Williams netted in injury-time. That is one of only two wins for Barnsley in 11 trips to Cardiff, with the other being a 2-0 success in 2010 thanks to an early brace by Daniel Bogdanovic.