Barnsley are set to make significant changes for tomorrow’s EFL Cup tie at home to League Two Carlisle United.
The Reds are hoping to bounce back from Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship against a Carlisle side who also lost at the weekend, 3-2 at Swindon Town.
Goalkeeper Brad Collins, centre-back Aapo Halme and winger Mamadou Thiam could start after being on the bench for the first two league games.
Coach Dale Tonge said: “The plan is to get quite a few players involved who haven’t had as many minutes as they expected. It’s a massive opportunity for them to impress.
“I always hated playing against Carlisle, home or away, they were always a tough team to play against. They have got some good players. We watched their game back from the weekend and they were in it.
“This cup is quite high in our priorities. Let’s win as many games as we can this season because winning breeds confidence. If we win against Carlisle we can take confidence into Saturday (a league game at home to Charlton Athletic).”
Alex Mowatt, who came off on Saturday, is set to have a scan today on a muscle strain in his side. Full-backs Dani Pinillos and Jordan Williams are both close to full fitness after pre-season injuries.
Tonge said new signings Clarke Oduor and Patrick Schmidt could play tomorrow, adding: “They will both be in contention for the game. We will assess the fitness of the squad and see which players we have available.”
Central midfielder Callum Styles, 19, is one of the players who could play. He said: “It would be good to get a first start for Barnsley. I just have to prepare right and hope I can play. I just want to get minutes on the pitch. I will have five or six of my family there watching me so hopefully it goes well.”
Tonge was disappointed with the defeat at Hillsborough. He said: “It was a big learning curve for our players but a great experience of playing against a very experienced team who had more than 1,000 games at that level more than they did. We had a lot of possession but didn’t use it how we wanted to and didn’t play to the gameplan.
“Wednesday were the better team and did a good job on us. The players were obviously disappointed, not with losing but how we played. We don’t feel we gave a good account of ourselves. Setbacks will happen but we will still try to impose ourselves on every game.
“We have had some good conversations on Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning and everyone is wanting to improve. It’s a really, really good lesson.”
