Barnsley are ‘aware we need a win soon’ as they prepare to host Derby County tomorrow, hoping to avoid a fourth successive defeat at Oakwell.

The Reds, who lost 3-1 at home to Brentford on Sunday, are currently third-bottom in the Championship and three points adrift of safety. They have lost their last three games and are winless in eight.

Derby are currently 15th with 11 points from their first nine games. They are managed by former Netherlands and Barcelona midfielder Phillip Cocu, who took over after Frank Lampard left for Chelsea having led the Rams to the play-off final in which they lost to Aston Villa in May.

County players Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett have been charged with drink driving after a crash on Tuesday left captain Richard Keogh with a knee injury that has ended his season. In their only game since that incident, Bennett and Lawrence were not in the squad as the Rams won 3-2 at home to Birmingham City on Saturday.

Coach Chris Stern said: “It’s like any team in the Championship, they have good individuals and a lot experience. It’s a new manager for this season. Their style is not similar to us but it might suit us.

“It’s a great experience for us to face a team managed by this great former player. You can’t argue with him as a player and now he has had success as a manager.

“We think we can take points again any team. It’s up to us to give our best performance in the situation we are in. We need to put in a good shift and performance then we can be satisfied and the result is a consequence of that. We will put the maximum in to take the maximum out of this game

“We need a win soon, we’re aware of that. We have two games before the international break and we want to take maximum points to have a good feeling and to turn things around. We have been close in the last games and we need to make the last step.”

Barnsley will be looking to end their poor recent record in midweek games. Daniel Stendel won his first midweek league match 4-0 at Rochdale in August last season but, since then, the Reds have lost three and drawn four of their seven league games on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings.

That victory at Spotland was Barnsley's only midweek league success in 15 attempts since October 2017, with nine losses, while they have not won at home in seven such fixtures since a Tuesday win over Nottingham Forest at the start of the same season.

The Reds' midweek games this season have seen them crash out of the EFL Cup with a 3-0 home defeat to League Two Carlisle United then lose 2-0 at Birmingham City.

Stern said: “We could also have lost all of those games on a weekend as well.  It’s good to have a lot of games in a short time, it’s what the players are used to. It’s good to have a chance to turn things around after a negative result three days ago.”

The Rams did the double over Barnsley in the 2017/18 season, winning 3-0 at Oakwell then thrashing the Reds 4-1 on the final day to send them down to League One.

Barnsley winger Luke Thomas was signed in the summer from Derby, who gave him two substitute appearances in three and a year half years.

Kenny Dougall, Cameron McGeehan and Sami Radlinger are expected to miss the game but Bambo Diaby has an outside chance of returning from an ankle injury while captain Mike Bahre is recovering from illness.

Left-back Ben Williams is set to return after a three-match suspension for his red card at Wigan Athletic. Stern said: “Ben could only train the last four weeks. As a player you hate to be suspended, we know that he’s ready to go. He should have learned from that red card. What we like about Ben is that is the way he plays, but in that situation he crossed the line and he was punished. He gives 100 per cent every game and the fans like that.”

Stern was disappointed with the 3-1 defeat against Brentford, who recovered from conceding after 59 seconds. He said: “We are aware of the fact that the performance in the second half was not good, we gave Brentford too much space and they exploited that. We had a brilliant start but their goal came out of the blue and it’s a good lesson for the lads to take into the next games. We’re still confident and we still trust the lads and they all believe. We just need to get the basics right and have a good game tomorrow.

“The recent performances have been good apart from the second half on Sunday and we have to believe and work hard to turn the results around. Only one bad half doesn’t mean the last four or five weeks were bad. We stay positive and remind our players what it takes to win games.

“They need to learn quickly. We have a new squad and a new league. The mistakes you make one day, you need to not make the next day. It’s a results-based business but it doesn’t help to put every way and start anew. We have our style and we believe in it.”

Barnsley have lost their last three home games, after the end of their 29-game unbeaten run in league matches at Oakwell. Stern said: “We need good performances and effort which will show the supporters why they support us. We need to be together as a unit. The fans will be with us any time. They are honest when we are not good enough and we appreciate that. We still feel the supporters are behind us. I don’t know how many will come to the game but they will expect a good performance from the lads.”

Defender Mads Andersen said: "We were a bit disappointed against Brentford, especially with the second half but we have to take the good things and keep going. In the defence especially we have to be better at the crosses and, offensively, we need to be more clinical as well. It’s tough right now but I think we can still take some positives out of the games. We believe in ourselves and we can do what we need to do this season."