Barnsley return to familiar surroundings against Brentford following back-to-back away games.
The Reds have drawn five of their last six matches at Oakwell including their last four on the bounce ahead of what is the Club’s penultimate home game of the season.
Paul Heckingbottom’s men will be eager to start turning some of those draws into wins however as the Reds aim to finish as high up the Championship table as possible.
Visitors Brentford are also targeting a top half finish this term and they travel to South Yorkshire looking to bounce back from defeat at Cardiff in their last away game.
It ended the Bees’ four match unbeaten run on the road which had seen them draw at Ipswich and win at Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and Burton Albion.
They will be eager to return to winning ways away from home but with the Reds pushing for a first home victory since January it could be an exciting afternoon at Oakwell.
Previous Meetings
The Reds will be looking for their first home win against Brentford in 14 years.
Since Isaiah Rankin netted the only goal in a narrow 1-0 Barnsley win back in April 2003, there has been two draws and one Brentford triumph at Oakwell; with the Reds actually going into this season having failed to taste victory in six games against the Bees.
That included three draws and three Brentford wins but that run came to an end in October when goals from Adam Armstrong and Sam Winnall secured a 2-0 success for the Reds at Griffin Park.
It was the Club’s 12th victory against Brentford but with the Bees leading the way on 23, Paul Heckingbottom’s men will be keen to continue narrowing that gap.
Team News
Paul Heckingbottom may opt to shuffle his pack once again for the visit of Brentford.
The likes of Ryan Hedges, George Moncur and Adam Armstrong will all hope to be involved against the Bees.
Andy Yiadom (shoulder), Aidy White (pelvis) and Sessi D’Almeida (knee) will not feature however as they remain long-term absentees for the Reds.
Visitors Brentford continue to be without winger Alan Judge who requires further surgery on a broken leg suffered a year ago.
Midfielder Josh McEachran also remains on the sidelines with an ankle injury, while the Bees will have to check on the fitness of Maxime Colin who has been suffering with a calf problem of late.
Man in the Middle
Robert Jones will take charge of both Barnsley and Brentford for the first time in his career.
The Merseyside-based official was only promoted to the Football League in May after two seasons in the National League, this match will also be his first in the Championship.
So far this term, Jones has overseen 36 games in total, handing out 112 yellow cards and four reds.
Their Star Man
The Bees may have lost top goal scorer Scott Hogan to Aston Villa on transfer deadline day but since the forward’s departure, Lasse Vibe has more than stepped up to the plate.
The Denmark international has hit nine goals in 12 games since Hogan joined Villa, including four in his last four outings prior to the Bees clash with Derby on Good Friday.
It means the 30-year-old is now on 13 for the campaign and just one short of his return from last season which came following his move from IFK Goteborg.
With Sergi Canos, Jota and Romaine Sawyers providing the support from behind and out wide, Brentford have an abundance of attacking options, but Vibe has also chipped in with seven assists of his own, in what has been an extremely successful campaign for the forward.
That form will not have gone unnoticed however and the Bees will be doing all they can to hold onto their talismanic forward this summer.
Mutual Man
Paul Hayes became an instant hit at Oakwell following 13 goals in his debut season for the Club after joining from Scunthorpe United in June 2005.
They weren’t just any old goals however, with the Dagenham-born forward bagging the Reds’ opener in the League One play-off final against Swansea, as well as converting his spot-kick in the shootout as Barnsley clinched promotion to the Championship.
On the back of that success, Hayes began the 2006-07 season in fine form; hitting four goals in his first seven games including a late winner at Hull.
Unfortunately for the Norwich City youth product he failed to sustain that form and after netting just once more, he spent time on loan at local rivals Huddersfield Town before returning for the final two games of the season with the Reds.
Following that campaign Hayes re-joined Scunthorpe but after three years at Glanford Park and another move, this time to Preston, he returned to Barnsley on loan in October 2010 as part of a deal which saw Iain Hume head to Deepdale.
His second spell with the Reds was not as prolific however; failing to find the back of the net in seven appearances for the Club.
The clinical poacher actually spent just one full season at Preston and via a spell with Charlton, he agreed a deal to join Brentford in August 2012.
During his 16-month stay at Griffin Park, Hayes hit six goals in 33 games for the Bees which included loan moves to both Crawley and Plymouth before a permanent transfer back to Scunthorpe, from whom he joined Wycombe in May 2014.
Form Guide
Barnsley’s last five at home: (LDDDD)
Barnsley 0-2 Brighton (18/2/2017)
Barnsley 1-1 Huddersfield (25/2/2017)
Barnsley 1-1 Ipswich (11/3/2017)
Barnsley 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday (1/4/2017)
Barnsley 0-0 Cardiff (4/4/2017)
Brentford’s last five on the road: (WDWWL)
Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Brentford (21/2/2017)
Ipswich 1-1 Brentford (4/3/2017)
Nottingham Forest 2-3 Brentford (7/3/2017)
Burton Albion 3-5 Brentford (18/3/2017)
Cardiff 2-1 Brentford (8/4/2017)
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