Barnsley head coach Paul Heckingbottom admits his side will take on a club with the 'exact opposite' approach to adapting to the Championship when the Reds visit Burton Albion tonight.
Whereas Barnsley – who have the youngest squad in the league – only sign players under the age of 25 and usually recruit from the lower leagues, Nigel Clough's Burton have the oldest squad after signing a series of Championship veterans in their 30s such as Lloyd Dyer and Luke Varney.
Heckingbottom told the Chronicle: "Nigel knows those players and knows they know the league. I would have thought it’s a pre-concieved plan to get people with experience who won’t be fazed by what they see week in week out. It’s the exact oppoisite of us. That’s not to say it’s the wrong way to go about, by any means. It served them really, really well last season and they will be looking to do the same this season."
Burton, who got promoted with Barnsley from League One last year, are the lowest scorers in the EFL with seven in their 14 matches after they ended a run of five games without netting with a 2-1 loss to Ipswich Town on Saturday which kept them in the relegation zone. Albion have not won in seven matches while no side in the Championship has conceded more goals.
Heckingbottom said: "I wouldn’t say they are struggling. It’s always a tough place to go and they give everyone a tough, tough game. They probably caught a lot of teams cold last season, especially at home, but this season people are paying them the respect they deserve and it does make a difference like we have experience ourselves. We know how tough they are because we came up with them from League One.
"I don’t think about where the other teams are in the table. I gave it up after my first season in charge. I have never seen as many heads on the floor when we draw with Colchester but then we went to Wigan and won to get in the play-offs. I can’t believe people still think like that."
