Barnsley complete their 2018 fixtures at home to Charlton Athletic tomorrow when they could extend their run of unbeaten league matches at Oakwell to 16 games.
The Addicks are currently fourth in the table, one point and one place clear of the fifth-placed Reds who have a game in hand and could overtake them with victory tomorrow.
After beating Peterborough United 2-0 on Wednesday, Barnsley are unbeaten in 15 home league matches, a run that stretches from March and which is their best since the 2005/06 season when Andy Ritchie led the club to promotion.
Head coach Daniel Stendel said: “Our home form is good but it is best we don’t think too much about it (the unbeaten run at Oakwell). We just want to play well home or away but we are happy to be giving our fans points at home. They created a special atmosphere in the Boxing Day game.”
Barnsley’s top-scorer Kieffer Moore missed Wednesday’s game against Peterborough due to illness and is a doubt for tomorrow. Assistant head coach Andreas Winkler said on Friday that Moore was back in training and was expected to play against Charlton.
Charlton won 2-0 at home to Gillingham on Saturday then lost 2–1 at Coventry City on Boxing Day. Before that defeat, they had won their last three league games and seven of their last eight including a shock success at leaders Portsmouth. All of their last three losses have come away from home.
The only side to have collected more points in the last eight League One matches than the Addicks are Luton Town, who Barnsley face in their following game on Tuesday.
The London club, managed by former England international Lee Bowyer, beat Barnsley 2-0 at The Valley on October 20. Midfielder Alex Mowatt said: “We didn’t play our best down there. We just weren’t very good so hopefully we can be a lot better this time.”
Charlton have not lost on their last three visits to Oakwell, with two draws either side of a 6-0 thrashing in April 2013. The last meeting in Barnsley saw the hosts go 2-0 up but draw 2-2.
