9:54am: Welcome to the Chronicle's live coverage of Barnsley's local derby at home to Sheffield United from 12.15pm today.

10:01am: The third-bottom Reds are in deep relegation trouble and a victory against their promotion-chasing local rivals could be exactly what they need to kickstart a recovery. 

10:03am: Barnsley are without a win in six games while they have won just two of their last 25. Those victories were both away from home at fellow strugglers Sunderland in New Year's Day and Birmingham City in February.

10:10am: That form, and three wins for Birmingham City in a row without conceding a goal, have left the Reds five points adrift of safety although they do have a game in hand on the sides above them as their match at Nottingham Forest was called off on Easter Monday. 

10:12am: Everyone has their own view on how many wins Barnsley need from their final seven matches to stay up. Fans vary from two all the way to five while Kieffer Moore thinks 'four with a couple of draws' and head coach Jose Morais thinks 'three or four'. 

10:12am: Team news coming up in a couple of minutes

10:15am: Barnsley team: Davies; Yiadom, Jackson, Lindsay, Fryers; Potts, Gardner, Moncur; Isgrove, Moore, McBurnie

10:15am: Jose Morais has named a totally unchanged team from the 2-2 draw against Bristol City on Good Friday, eight days ago .

10:17am: There are some changes on the bench with Dimitri Cavare and Stevie Mallan coming in for Joe Williams and Jason McCarthy

10:17am: Sheffield United team: Moore; Basham, Wright, O’Connell, Baldock; Lundstram, Evans, Fleck, Stevens; Brooks, Clarke.

10:17am: The Blades have made one change from their draw with Cardiff on Monday, as Jake Wright replaces the injured Richard Stearman at centre-back.

10:18am: Sheffield United subs: Eastwood, Sharp, Wilson, Leonard, Duffy, Lafferty, Holmes

10:20am: There are some big games for the Reds elsewhere today as Birmingham, the side above them, host bottom club Burton Albion. Bolton, in 20th place, face a tough trip to fifth-placed Derby County although the Rams did lose their last home game 4-1 to second-bottom Sunderland who visit Paul Heckingbottom's Leeds today. Reading, in 19th, host Preston while 18th-placed Hull welcome QPR.

10:25am: The story dominating the news around Oakwell this week has been the 'fight' in training between Dimitri Cavare and goalkeeper Nick Townsend, who is out for the season with a broken finger sustained in the incident. 

10:26am: Cavare is on the bench today, and he would have been in the squad for the match at Nottingham Forest which was rained off on Monday

10:29am: At the pre-match press conference, head coach Jose Morais said of the 'duel': "I am not frustrated about it. I think it is fantastic. If I could give a pair of gloves to both of them and say 'come on, fight' I would, if it would result in a better team shape and a better atmosphere. That is what we are having."

10:33am: Barnsley have set a club record of 12 games without a home win, with six draws and six defeats. Their last victory at Oakwell was a 2-0 success over Birmingham City on November 4 while their last 29 Oakwell league games since January 2017 have brought just three victories. 

10:37am: This will be a fourth successive home fixture, following the draws against Norwich City and Bristol City either side of the 2-0 home loss to Millwall. The last time that happened was in January 2016 during their seven-match run of League One wins as well as the first leg of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final against Fleetwood Town. The last four successive league home games was in late 2010. 

10:37am: This run of four home games in a row follows a run of four successive away trips which brought a win at Birmingham City, a draw at Hull City then losses at high-flying Cardiff City and Middlesbrough.

10:41am: Barnsley are yet to win a Yorkshire derby this season, having drawn twice with Sheffield Wednesday and lost at home to Leeds United and Hull City, with an away draw against the latter. 

10:44am: They lost 1-0 at Bramall Lane in August, with captain Angus MacDonald being sent off after headbutting Leon Clarke who had grabbed him by the throat. That came just before the break after Billy Sharp had put the hosts ahead in the 17th minute. 

10:47am: That was part of an excellent start to the season for Chris Wilder's newly-promoted Blades, who were second in mid-November. But, just as Barnsley's form has collapsed since then, United have picked up only 26 points from 23 games and are now ninth – one point off the play-off places. 

10:53am: The Blades almost returned to the top six on Monday but conceded an injury-time goal in a 1-1 draw with second-placed Cardiff City, managed by their former boss Neil Warnock.

10:53am: United are unbeaten in five matches but four of those have been draws while they have won just one of their last seven away fixtures.  

10:58am: Jose Morais said of the Blades: "They are a good, attractive team with quality players. They play in a high-energy way. But we are also a good side so I expect a very good game."

10:59am: It will be Morais' first South Yorkshire derby. He said: "I am curious to see the atmosphere, not only because it's a derby and the proximity of the clubs, but also I want to see the excitement, energy and enthusiasm of our fans and our team." 

10:59am: Morais has won one of his eight matches since arriving at Oakwell in February when the Reds were in the drop zone. He said: "To be in the bottom three is nothing new. We went out of it, now we are in it again."

11:02am: The Reds boss added: "We believe in our possibilities to stay in the Championship. All the players are aware  of the gap, but we have one game in hand and we can change this situation. It would be different if we had no more games to play, but we have so many possibilities and it is in our hands. It is not easy to think like that but that is part of my job."

11:04am: Also at Thursday's press conference, Barnsley striker Kieffer Moore said:  "It will be a good game and it should be an electric atmosphere.  Having watched them on TV, I can see us turning them over and it would be a big three points."

11:04am: Also at Thursday's press conference, Barnsley striker Kieffer Moore said:  "It will be a good game and it should be an electric atmosphere.  Having watched them on TV, I can see us turning them over and it would be a big three points."

11:05am: Moore also said 'I honestly can't see us going down' and added: "It could be the biggest seven games of our careers. Nobody wants to go down and we will fight until the end. I don't feel the pressure at all, it's part of football. We just want to go out and show the fans we care and that we want to do right for this football club." 

11:06am: Barnsley have won just two of their last 15 derbies against United since 2001, losing six and drawing seven. 

11:06am: Barnsley's last victory against the Blades was in Sheffield in League One in November 2014 when Sam Winnall headed in the only goal for Danny Wilson's Reds.

11:12am: The last Oakwell success for Barnsley was also by a 1-0 scoreline in 2010 when Hugo Colace netted for Mark Robins' side. 

11:12am: That is Sheffield United's only defeat in their last eight games in Barnsley since 1999 with the most recent visit seeing Conor Hourihane net a last-minute equaliser before the Reds fell to the bottom of League One later that day in December 2015. 

11:12am: Sheffield United striker Clarke, 33, is the third top-scorer in the Championship this season with 16, having scored at a rate of one in seven in more than 200 games at this level before the campaign started. 

11:13am: Another experienced striker, Billy Sharp – shown with Jason McCarthy in August – was an unused substitute for the last match but the 32-year-old veteran has 13 goals this season. He has only scored two in 15 games against Barnsley. If he plays today, he will have played against not side more in his career more than the Reds. 

11:14am: Several of the Blades players were at Oxford United when they lost to the Reds in the 2016 Johnstone's Paint Trophy final two years ago this week. John Lundstram was suspended for the Wembley match while Jake Wright was an unused substitute after injury. 

11:14am: Having already set the longest winless run in Oakwell's history, the Reds could also break two more unwanted club record this season. They only have three home wins all season, one fewer than in the 1952/53 season which was the previous worst, while their tally of 18 home goals is four short of their previous lowest tallies set in 1989/90 and 2013-14 when they were last relegated. 

11:15am: The players are out on the pitch and the game is about to start

11:16am: The players were led out by representatives from West Park Cancer Charity which the game is dedicated to

11:19am: After a minute's silence for Ray Wilkins, the match is about to start

11:19am: GAME UNDERWAY

11:20am: 2 Barnsley make a bright start and Yiadom's cross is headed behind with McBurnie and Moore lurking

11:21am: 3 Kieffer Moore headed in an George Moncur early in the last match and has a chance to do so again but seems to mistime his jump and flicks it behind. Good chance

11:23am: 4 Sheffield United have their first proper attack which is ended by Adam Davies catching a cross from the right

11:23am: 5 Zeki Fryers wins another corner, much to the annoyance of the fans behind the goal who thought it was a goal kick

11:24am: 5 So close! George Moncur hits the bar from the left of the box after taking a short corner

11:24am: That looked as thought it would dip in with goalkeeper Simon Moore stranded but it crashed against the underside of the bar and bounced away

11:25am: George Moncur has added a lot more creativity to a central three which had been lacking in that area before he got into the side in recent weeks

11:26am: He finished last season very strongly and the Reds will need the same this campaign if they are to stay up

11:26am: Both sets of fans are pretty loud this lunchtime and the atmosphere is crackling as you would expect from a derby

11:27am: 'Going down, going down' chant the Blades fans

11:28am: Sheffield United are playing a 3-5-2 system today so they have three in the middle like their hosts but also wing-backs

11:29am: We're ten minutes in and Barnsley will be the happier with their start of the two sides, although they could so easily be ahead after George Moncur hit the bar

11:30am: 11 Lee Evans has United's first shot but hits it well over from 25 yards

11:31am: The home fans are really getting behind their team who are winning the ball back well and not letting the promotion-chasing visitors settle so far

11:33am: 15 United win their first corner after Lundstram plays Clarke down the left and Lindsay intercepts

11:34am: Fleck's corner is headed behind in Lindsay for another corner on the other side

11:34am: 15 The second corner is low and flicked on at the front post then it flashes across goal

11:36am: 17 An excellent passing move by United sees Barnsley totally cut open on their left but John Lundstram, after a couple of one, twos with team-mates, goes around a defender then blazes horribly high and wide from six yards out

11:37am: That was a real let-off for the Reds and a warning of what their local rivals could do to them

11:37am: 19 Another United corner is taken short and George Baldock's cross is cleared

11:38am: Barnsley had the better of the first ten minutes but the next ten have belonged to the visitors

11:38am: That said, it is an even derby so far with no side really on top

11:39am: 20 Lloyd Isgrove has a shot blocked then George Moncur fires over from 20 yards. That came from a good Moncur run and a cross by Oliver McBurnie

11:42am: A quarter of the way through this match. George Moncur has hit the bar for Barnsley and John Lundstram blazed over from close range for United

11:43am: 24 Barnsley win another corner in front of the Blades fans

11:43am: 25 Gary Gardner smashes in a fantastic 25-yard strike!!

11:46am: The corner was cleared but rolled out to Gary Gardner who was totally on his own just outside the box. It was a fantastic shot into the top right corner

11:47am: What an occasion to score your first goal for Barnsley

11:47am: His last goal was for parent club Aston Villa against their bitter rivals Birmingham City and now he's scored in another derby

11:48am: The home fans are really in good voice now. Is this the day the Reds end their club record 12-match winless run at Oakwell?

11:50am: United have had a couple of attacks and crosses since going behind but nothing to really threaten the hosts

11:51am: 32 Oliver McBurnie is back doing his defensive work and blocks a cross out for a throw-in, which the hosts appreciate

11:52am: 33 A loose Blades pass gives Moore the ball near the away box, he passes to Moncur who slips and the visitors clear

11:52am: Oliver McBurnie

11:53am: The Barnsley man clearly tugged back George Baldock deep in the United half

11:54am: Jack O'Connell. Barnsley fans think he should be off after clattering Lloyd Isgrove wide on the right touchline

11:56am: Barnsley are really harrying and pressing their visitors with a great intensity and the fans are appreciating that

11:57am: Lee Evans

11:57am: Billy Sharp

11:58am: So Chris Wilder has brought on another striker for a central midfielder after 39 minutes

12:00pm: 41 Sharp almost makes an instant impact from a Basham cross a few yards out but, under pressure from Adam Davies, the ball squirts up into the air instead of into the net and is cleared

12:02pm: Just a few minutes until half-time now. Can Barnsley hold onto their lead or even add to it?

12:04pm: Two minutes of added time

12:05pm: 45+ Another chance for Sharp as a low cross from the right falls to him on the edge of the box but it looks to be going wide and is blocked

12:05pm: Barnsley assistant Dimas and United boss Chris Wilder then argue on the touchline with plenty of pointing fingers

12:07pm: Liam Lindsay takes out David Brooks after George Moncur had lost the ball

12:08pm: HALF-TIME: Barnsley 1, Sheffield United 0.

12:24pm: SECOND HALF UNDERWAY

12:24pm: No changes for either side at the break

12:25pm: Barnsley have shown all season that they struggle to hold onto leads, especially at home, so they could do with another goal as soon as possible

12:27pm: 47 Liam Lindsay slices a simple clearance up into the air, then Yiadom heads away but Gardner cannot clear it further and Baldock shoots over from 25 yards for United

12:28pm: 48 A good chance for 2-0 as Kieffer Moore goes clean through on goal, but his namesake Simon Moore comes well off his line to block on the edge of the box, then the follow-up shot is blocked on the line by a defender after Moore had scrambled back into position

12:28pm: David Brooks

12:28pm: Mark Duffy

12:29pm: So United have made two of their three substitutions in the first 50 minutes

12:31pm: 52 Another good chance. on the counter attack . Barnsley have men over but Isgrove passes behind Moncur whose eventually shot is easily held by Moore going down to his left

12:33pm: 55 Excellent defending from Lindsay to block a low shot from the edge of the box then outmuscle Sharp and clear

12:33pm: 55 After a corner is cleared, United's John Fleck blazes over from the edge of the box

12:34pm: The home fans are singing Bob Marley's Three Little Birds which was their anthem the last time they stayed up in the Championship against all the odds

12:35pm: 56 United are having their best period of the game, a goalmouth scramble has seen Sharp's shot hit Fryers and weak appeals for handball

12:36pm: John Fleck 1-1

12:37pm: It had been coming... United work the ball around the home box and Fleck collects a Clarke pass on the edge, nutmegs a defender and smashes low into the bottom left corner from 16 yards

12:37pm: Two fantastic goals in this derby so far

12:38pm: Lloyd Isgrove

12:38pm: Adam Hammill

12:38pm: Barnsley need a moment of magic from Hammill which they have seen so many times before, but not for a while as he has not netted in more than 50 Championship matches

12:40pm: United win a corner here, and the tide seems to be turning their way very slightly

12:40pm: 62 Clarke heads a cross down to Basham but Potts blocks his shot wide

12:41pm: 62 Barnsley concede another corner as Jackson blocks Sharp

12:42pm: 63 Basham tries a curling effort from 25 yards but it is a poor shot and goes well wide of the right post

12:43pm: Leon Clarke . 2-1 to the visitors

12:46pm: It's a disaster for Barnsley. Gary Gardner loses the ball and Clarke is played through. Davies makes a good block initially but then weakly kicks the follow up shot away and Clarke can blast into the top left corner from six yards out

12:47pm: That was two goals conceded in ten minutes for the Reds who are really struggling after playing so well in the first half

12:47pm: George Moncur

12:48pm: Tom Bradshaw

12:48pm: That substitution is booed. George Moncur had a good game and Morais' tactics of throwing several strikers on has not worked before

12:49pm: John Fleck levelled in the 57th minute and Leon Clarke put the visitors ahead in the 65th

12:50pm: Kieffer Moore is crossing the ball in from the left-back area. He needs to be in the middle not on the wing

12:51pm: Barnsley are now playing 4-4-2 with Hammill and McBurnie on the wings, and Bradshaw up front with Moore

12:52pm: Oliver McBurnie 2-2!

12:54pm: The Scotland striker scores his seventh goal in ten Reds starts with a two-yard tap-in after Moore spilled Hammill's low 25-yard effort

12:55pm: That sets up a huge final 75 minutes for the Reds, with this derby delicately balanced

12:56pm: 76 Great block by Andy Yiadom after the ball falls nicely to Fleck in the Reds box

12:59pm: Approaching the final ten minutes here in a derby in which the Reds have led then trailed before making it 2-2

12:59pm: 81 Great chance for United's Enda Stevens as he goes clean through after Fleck's pass nutmegs Hammill but the Irishman fires across the goal and wide of the right post

13:00pm: 82 Another superb chance for the visitors as Fleck floats in a cross which Clarke heads and Davies makes a superb save before Sharp heads into the side netting

13:01pm: The Blades are finding it very easy to cut through their hosts at the moment, they win a corner

13:02pm: Barnsley seem to want to throw men forward to get a vital winner but that's leaving them badly exposed at the back against a good attacking side

13:04pm: 86 Gardner tries to score another 25-yard stunner but his shot is high and wide

13:05pm: 87 United appeal for a penalty after Fryers tangles with Sharp but the referee is not interested

13:06pm: This is was Oakwell celebrating the 2-2- goal

13:06pm: Tom Bradshaw makes it 3-2 !!!

13:08pm: The striker headed Kieffer Moore's cross into an empty net from just a few yards out

13:09pm: It was the Wales international's first goal of 2018 and could be huge for the Reds in their survival battle

13:11pm: 90+2 Brad Potts almost made it 4-2 but his 25-yard effort goes wide of the bottom left corner after a great McBurnie run

13:11pm: 90+2 Sharp has a great chance for 3-3 but blazes over the bar from ten yards out after passes in the box

13:12pm: Oliver McBurnie

13:12pm: Dimitri Cavare

13:14pm: FULL-TIME: Barnsley 3, Sheffield United 2. A huge win for the Reds