Barnsley will be hoping to channel their frustrations from Saturday’s called off game at Stevenage into tonight’s match at another promotion rival in Oxford United.
The game at the weekend was called off after 1pm by the referee, with Reds head coach Neill Collins angry with the decision after 1,300 fans had made the trip.
Barnsley were due to train at non-league club Hemel Hempstead between the two matches and added an extra session once Saturday’s game was postponed.
The Reds are fifth, ahead of sixth-placed Oxford on goal difference, after both teams saw their games called off at the weekend.
Collins said: “It’s another very tough test. We knew Stevenage would be a test and Oxford have a very different style. They are both doing very well in the league.
"Oxford like to be expansive and very attacking.
“We can go into the game slightly fresher as we played on Tuesday but didn’t play on Saturday.”
Collins said he will probably pick a different 11 in midweek to the one he would have named at the weekend.
“We definitely picked a team that was suitable for the Stevenage game, following on from playing on Tuesday. Oxford is another game and we’ll pick a team to win it.
“There might be players named in the team on Saturday who miss out. "They will go into it full of energy and maybe take their frustrations from the game being off today.”
The Us are back in contention for the Championship this season having just avoided relegation last year following several promotion attempts.
Oxford won nine of their first 11 league games of the season then were second with 32 points from 15 when manager Liam Manning left for Bristol City in November.
He was replaced by Des Buckingham who is from Oxford and played then coached in their academy. He then had spells in New Zealand – where he coached the national youth teams and briefly the senior side as caretaker – Australia and India, leading Mumbai City to the national title.
He returned to Oxford in November and has won four, drawn two and lost four of his league matches.
Midfielder Herbie Kane spent the 2021/22 season on loan at Oxford from Barnsley.
The teams have met 28 times with Barnsley winning half and losing eight.
The Reds were unbeaten in five since the turn of the century but lost 3-1 at Oakwell in August in one of their worst performances of the season so far. The Us took the lead from a penalty conceded by full debutant Mael de Gevigney who was taken off before half-time as he looked at risk of a second yellow card. Jordan Williams scored an own goal then Devante Cole pulled one back but Oxford got a late third.
The Us will now look for a first ever double against the Reds who will hunt a second successive win at the Kassam Stadium. They triumphed there 2-1 almost a year ago with goals by Nicky Cadden and Bobby Thomas.
