Barnsley hope this run of cup games will show their squad is strong enough to contest promotion without much altering in the January window.
The Reds are more than halfway through five successive home games, having beaten Bristol Rovers and Southend United 1-0 in League One and Everton under 21s on penalties in the Checkatrade Trophy. They now host Notts County tomorrow in the FA Cup tomorrow before Bradford City visit in the Checkatrade on Tuesday.
Head coach Daniel Stendel has been using the cup games to give gametime to players on the fringes of the side or returning from injury. His assistant Andreas Winkler told the Chronicle: “The cup games are a good chance to look at how strong our squad is. We have one eye on the transfer window, because you never know what can happen in football, but we are really happy with the squad because we have really good quality with strength in depth.”
Stendel’s only campaign in the German Cup with previous club Hannover 96 saw them win two matches before losing 2-1 at home to eventual finalists and top flight club Eintracht Frankfurt. Winkler said: “The team for the FA Cup will go back to like the team for the league games. It’s very important, we lost in the Carabao Cup so the FA Cup is our main cup this season. When I was really young, we always tried to watch the FA Cup final every year.”
Barnsley’s two 1-0 league wins mean they have won nine of 16 so far, which matches their tally from the whole of last season when they were relegated from the Championship. They are fourth in League One, seven points behind leaders Portsmouth who have played an extra game and four off Sunderland who occupy the second automatic promotion place having played 16 games like the Reds.
Barnsley are on a run of 13 home games without defeat in all competitions which began in March. Meanwhile, tomorrow’s visitors County are currently 22nd in League Two with 14 points from their 17 matches so far, nine of which have brought defeat. They are three points clear of the relegation zone into non-league football. Only League One Scunthorpe have conceded more EFL goals than County who have let in 36.
Their manager is Australian Harry Kewell, the former Leeds United and Liverpool star who played 274 Premier League games and represented his country in two World Cups.
The 40-year-old never played at Oakwell as he was injured for Leeds’ Premiership win in Barnsley in 1997 but played in the reverse fixture which the Reds lost 2-1 at Elland Road. He has experience of facing Barnsley in the FA Cup as he was a substitute for Liverpool in their shock loss at Anfield in 2008.
Winkler said: “They are a good side but they have conceded a lot of goals. They have not found their rhythm between offence and defence but, if they find it on Saturday, they could be very dangerous for us. They have expansive, strong players and a very famous manager. We think it will be a tough game.”
