Paul Heckingbottom is hoping to pick up a second win of the Championship season tomorrow against the club where he gained an early education as a player.
Heckingbottom spent four years at tomorrow's visitors Sunderland after he failed a trial with his hometown club Barnsley in 1995 following his release by Manchester United.He never made a first team appearance for the Black Cats due to the form of fellow left-backs Martin Scott, who he eventually worked with as a coach at Oakwell, and England player Michael Gray.
The Reds head coach said: "They were big years for me and Sunderland helped me get established as a player. I changed position at Sunderland. I was always a midfielder but they saw me play one game as a left-back for Manchester United and signed me as a left-back. I learned my position there.
"It was a different era because we were training with the first team and there was no under 23s squad. It was good to be in that first team environment. I can use that experience now with players who are making big jumps up from lower leagues and have to learn on the job.
"I seemed to play for a lot of North East clubs (Hartlepool, Darlington and Gateshead) and it is a similar area to South Yorkshire, a working class area with a lot of football clubs.I know a lot of Sunderland's coaching staff and support staff and a lot of them were there when I was there."
After losing 26 out of 38 matches last season as they finished bottom of the Premier League under David Moyes, Sunderland replaced him with Simon Grayson who left Preston to join them. The new manager is operating with a vastly reduced budget as the Black Cats are understood to be more than £100million in debt.
Although they sold goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for £25million, they have only spent around £1million on new players. Grayson's team were unbeaten in their first three Championship matches with 1-1 draws against Derby and Sheffield Wednesday either side of a win at Norwich City.
But they suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Leeds United on Saturday and have five points from their first four games of the season. They won 2-1 at League Two Carlisle United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday after making ten changes to the team.
Heckingbottom – whose side have three points from four games – said: "They have got good players and a good manager. They have been really steady. Simon seems to have really simplified it for them, with hard work and organisation then, when you have good players, you have always got a chance. They might have money problems and be in debt but they still have a really good side. They have still got the bulk of the players who were in the Premier League."
Heckingbottom is expecting a loud atmosphere with the away end likely to be full. He said: "We will be challenging our players to be better than Sunderland's and we need to challenge the fans to be louder than the away end."
Grayson has a poor record against Barnsley as a manager, winning just three of 14 meetings with the Reds while in charge of Blackpool, Leeds, Huddersfield Town and Preston.Sunderland won their first ever game at Oakwell in 1959 but then, after 26 years without a meeting between the clubs, they only won once in eight visits between 1985 and 1995, losing six and drawing one. But they have been successful in their last three games in Barnsley, winning in 1996, 1999 and 2007 which was the most recent game between the clubs.
There have only been two draws in the 25 games between the clubs, and they came in the first three meetings. Sunderland have won 15 of those matches, compared to Barnsley's eight successes.
Both sides are yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season. Only Neil Warnock's Cardiff have had less possession this season than Sunderland.
Dimitri Cavare's international clearance has come through but he will miss the game due to a minor hamstring problem. He is likely to be back after the international break as is fellow full-back Zeki Fryers, while Lloyd Isgrove is slightly further behind. Midfielder Cameron McGeehan continues to play for the under 23s as he recovers from a broken leg while centre-back Liam Lindsay has been back in training and played in a behind-closed-doors match this week so could be involved in tomorrow's squad.
Centre-back Ethan Pinnock is likely to start at centre-back in place of captain Angus MacDonald who is banned for three games after his red card in the loss to Sheffield United on Saturday.
After the Sunderland match, there will be a two-week international break before Barnsley visit Preston on September 9.
