MADS Andersen is relishing tomorrow’s expected battle with Championship top-scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic and is hoping to repeat his Barnsley debut when they gained a shock win over Fulham.
The 24-year-old Danish defender made his first appearance in English football against the Cottagers on the opening day of the 2019/20 season, when the newly-promoted Reds stunned the promotion favourites. Fulham are currently 14 points clear at the top with Barnsley second-bottom. Andersen told the Chronicle: “I think we can surprise them.
“We did that in my first game in Barnsley and I think we can do exactly the same now.
“I remember that game well.”
Andersen and Bambo Diaby kept Mitrovic quiet last time. The Serbian striker has scored 35 goals in 32 games this season. Andersen told the Chronicle: “It will be physical. He is good from crosses. We have to look at that.
“I like playing the more physical players, not a small, skillful player like Lionel Messi. But I mainly focus on me and don’t care who I play.”
Barnsley have collected ten points from their last six games but are still five from safety with 11 matches left.
Andersen said: “It is still a big gap but I think we will make it. Our form overall has been good recently. I know we feel confident about that.”
Andersen praised the impact of January signings Amine Bassi and Domingos Quina. He said: “Those two players have definitely changed the team. They have a lot of quality, they want the ball and keep it. They like playing with each other, you can tell.”
On Stoke City’s equaliser in the 94th minute of Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Oakwell, Andersen said: “It is very hard to take.
“It obviously feels like a loss but we got a point and had some good moments so we will take that into Saturday. I don’t remember the goal exactly but we have to clear the ball better. We need to cut that out. We feel flat. People are very disappointed which they should be, but we will pick ourselves up.”
