Barnsley can complete a ‘fantastic week’ with victory at local rivals Doncaster Rovers from 7.45pm tonight live on Sky Sports.
After beating Accrington Stanley on Saturday and then drawing 0-0 with promotion rivals Sunderland on Tuesday, Daniel Stendel’s Reds are set to make the short journey to the Keepmoat Stadium along with 3,700 of their fans.
Assistant coach Dale Tonge told the Chronicle: “It would be a fantastic week if we can get seven out of nine points. We set targets at the start of the week and we are going to not quite get what we wanted but a lot of people would have been happy with seven out of nine and we can still get that.”
Tonge, who is from Goldthorpe, is looking forward to the South Yorkshire derby. He said: “I have quite a few Doncaster friends so I have had a lot of texts and calls this week asking for tickets and giving me banter. I am just on the Barnsley side of the Dearne area and I keep telling everyone I am a Barnsley lad.
“I don’t think I beat Doncaster as a player and I hated playing them. They always had one up on us, home and away. It is a local derby and we want to put a performance on in front of lots of our fans. I think it is a big rivalry and this is the kind of game you want to play in.”
Tonge said some Barnsley players were injury doubts but did not name them. He said: "We have a few concerns after Tuesday night. It’s a case of wrapping them in cotton wool and making sure they are OK.”
The Reds are second in League One, five points behind leaders Luton Town, and four clear of third-placed Sunderland who have a game in hand. Tonge said: “We understand a lot of the clubs below us are tying to put runs together but we know that, if we take care of our business, we will get where we want to go.”
The Reds are currently unbeaten in 17 league games since December 8, which is the longest such run since the 1980/81 season. They equalled a post-war club record this week with 23 games unbeaten at Oakwell where they have not lost for more than a year. Their away form is also impressive as they have not lost in seven league games on the road across more than three months, winning four including a 3-0 success with ten men at Southend United on March 2.
The Reds have kept five successive clean sheets since Wycombe Wanderers’ Joe Jacobson netted a 100th-minute penalty in his side’s 2-1 loss on February 16. It is the longest run without conceding since the spring of 2015 under caretaker Mark Burton then new head coach Lee Johnson. If they keep Donny out tonight, it will be the first time they have kept six successive clean sheets since 1984.
Tonge said: “The form we are on shows focus and resilience and a togetherness in adversity. It’s been great to see the boys grow as a group during this run.”
Doncaster manager Grant McCann played 44 games for the Reds in 2006 and 2007 and still owns a house in Barnsley. He almost returned to Oakwell as head coach after being given an interview last summer but lost out to Daniel Stendel and joined Rovers instead.
Tonge, a former team-mate of McCann at Barnsley said: “I know Macca. He’s a great, honest, hard-working character. He was demanding of his team-mates as a player so I’m not surprised he’s getting the best out of the Doncaster players. He will want to beat us, because he played here and there was certain speculation in the summer.”
McCann’s side were just a point behind the Reds on New Year’s Day but the gap has increased to 18 as Rovers have won just two of their last ten league games including none in their last five. This week they lost 2-0 at bottom club AFC Wimbledon on Saturday then drew 1-1 at Blackpool on Tuesday, leaving them sixth in the table, a point clear of those outside the play-off places.
Doncaster’s top-scorer John Marquis has 18 league goals this season, with only Luton’s James Collins above him in the League One goal-scoring charts. Donny are unbeaten in nine league games at the Keepmoat Stadium, winning six, since losing 1-0 to Sunderland on October 23.
Tonight will be the 75th South Yorkshire derby between these two clubs. Barnsley have a poor recent record in the fixture, with their only win in the last seven meetings being a 1-0 home success in February 2016 thanks to a late Ashley Fletcher strike. Their only meeting since then was at Oakwell this season when Liverpool loanee Herbie Kane put the visitors ahead early in the second half before Cauley Woodrow levelled ten minutes later.
Tonge said: “They were outstanding at Oakwell and I think they are the best team who have come to us this season. We are not looking at their recent results, we are expecting the best Doncaster to turn up. “I played with John Marquis (at Torquay) and he could play higher.”
Barnsley’s last win at the Keepmoat Stadium was a 2-0 victory in January 2011 thanks to second half brace by Danny Haynes. It was a third straight win there following 1-0 successes in the previous two seasons secured by Adam Hammill and Jon Macken. After those wins, the Reds have picked up just one point from their last four trips to Doncaster, the most recent being a 2-1 defeat in October 2015.
