Barnsley will not be taking bottom club Plymouth Argyle lightly when they visit Oakwell on Tuesday evening.

The Devon club just missed out on the play-offs last season but are five points adrift of safety in League One without a win in their first ten games this season.

Barnsley are fifth after their 3-1 success at Fleetwood Town on Saturday, when Plymouth were losing 3-2 at home to the Reds’ local rivals Doncaster Rovers. 

Assistant manager Andreas Winkler said: “They don’t have a win which makes them very dangerous. We are aware that they played a really good season the previous season. The results are not that good but the team is pretty good.

“If we are the first team who don’t know how they can perform, we will be the first one they can beat. We have to be aware of their strengths and anyone who thinks this will not be a tough game is not right.

“They have a very direct style. We don’t want to be the first team they beat. Every opponent is dangerous whether they are at the bottom or at the top of the league. It’s still a professional league and very physical so it will be a difficult match.

“We need to make our squad aware that they are still a good team even though they are bottom.”

Captain Adam Davies added: “I am sure we will be favourites but you have to earn the right to win every game, you can’t just turn up.

“We haven’t been focusing as much this season on the opposition as we have in the past. We will just go out there to play our best game and win.”

Winkler was delighted to have midfielder Brad Potts back on the bench at Fleetwood after injury. He and winger Ryan Hedges were both unused substitutes but could play a role against Plymouth.

“Brad has a lot of experience and he can give us a very good impact. This will be a good chance for him to play as a substitute or maybe from the start.”

When they joined the club in the summer, Winkler and head coach Daniel Stendel said one of their biggest challenges this year would be getting used to playing regular midweek games, which are much more common in England than Germany.

“We are getting more used to it and we know what to do in the days between the games. It’s not easy and you always want more time on the training ground but you have to be aware that the players have to recover as well.”

This will be Barnsley’s first home game for almost a month since their 1-1 draw with Walsall on September 8. Their match two weeks later against Burton Albion was called off after club volunteer Stephen Croft suffered a heart attack.

“It will be very special to go into the stadium and see the same crowd who did such a excellent job in the Saturday before last.”

They have former Barnsley loanee David Fox, 34, in their midfield while their back-up goalkeeper is ex-Red Kyle Letheren.