Reds held in goalless Oakwell return

Gerhard Struber’s team had five of the six shots on target while they have still not conceded following the re-start last week. 

Barnsley kept the same team as the 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers a week before with Mike Bahre and Brad Collins returning to the bench in place of Sami Radlinger and Kenny Dougall who are both set to leave the club next week. The Reds kept the same 3-4-1-2 formation as the previous week and it was matched by Millwall. 

The game started sleepily, as is often the case with lunchtime kick-offs, and without an atmosphere as Barnsley played a behind-closed-doors match at Oakwell for the first time ever. 

Both sides went close with free-kicks as Cauley Woodrow had the first shot in the 17th minute but his effort from the left was tipped over by ex-Red Bartosz Bialkowski then Millwall’s Shane Ferguson hit the underside of the bar four minutes later. Another Ferguson free-kick was headed wide by Murray Wallace before the drinks break midway through the first half. 

That was the only real action of a poor-quality first half in which Barnsley put together a couple of good moves, and rattled their visitors with strong pressing at times, but were too eager to play long balls up to Jacob Brown. 

Struber brought on Conor Chaplin for Elliot Simoes at half-time for the second successive week. Alex Mowatt had the first shot of the second half but his 25-yard effort was saved by Bialkowski diving to his right. 

Former Reds striker Tom Bradshaw almost opened the scoring but his header from Jed Wallace’s left-wing corner appeared to be blocked on the line by one of his team-mates. An almost identical incident happened later in the half. 

Michael Sollbauer had a fine chance to open the scoring when, after a free-kick was cleared, Woodrow dinked the ball into the box to put the centre-back through but he could not get power on the header and again Bialkowski saved. Brown then shot straight at the goalkeeper in the 76th minute from just outside the box after Chaplin found him with a backheel. 

Mads Andersen could have won it in the 92nd minute when a Mowatt free-kick fell to him 12 yards out but his scooped effort lacked power and Bialkowski caught it fairly easily. 

Jack Walton made his first save of the game in the 95th minute as Matt Smith appeared to head a long throw towards goal but the looping effort was easily caught. 

Barnsley (3-4-1-2): Walton; Sollbauer, Andersen, B Williams; Ludewig, Palmer (Halme 84mins), Mowatt, Ritzmaier (Styles 60); Woodrow (Thomas 76); Simoes (Chaplin HT), Brown.  Subs: Collins,, J Williams, Oduor, Bahre, Schmidt.  Yellow cards: Brown, B Williams. 

Millwall (3-4-3): Bialkowski; Hutchinson, Cooper, M Wallace; Romeo, Williams, Molumby (Woods 81mins), Ferguson (Skalak 90); J Wallace (Thompson 90), Bradshaw (Smith 69), Bennett (Mahoney 81).  Subs: Steele, Pearce, Mitchell, Leonard.  Yellow cards: Bennett, Molumby.