Tuesday 15th April, 2014
The Valley
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Having now dropped back to the bottom of the Championship after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Bolton, Barnsley will face Charlton on Tuesday in what could be one of the most important games of the final leg of the season.
Having been so close to taking something from the visit to Bolton, Chris O’Grady’s late penalty miss shows the Reds that the opportunities for survival are there to be taken.
Charlton have games in hand on the other teams around them and therefore will be eager to take advantage of their position and create more space between themselves and the bottom.
Three points for the Reds on their travels could prove to be an important lifeline as 21st place is beginning to get further and further away.
Record
This will be the 48th time that this fixture has been played in the Football League.
Barnsley wins over Charlton- 16
Charlton wins over Barnsley- 18
Draws- 13
Memory Lane
It was a goal from Tomasz Cywka that won the previous meeting between these sides at The Valley as Barnsley claimed their second away win of the season back in October 2012.
Apart from the shock 6-0 loss to Charlton last season with nine men, the Reds have a good record against the London side with Barnsley picking up points from all the previous six meetings between the sides.
For the sake of the race to avoid relegation, Barnsley will be hoping that this season’s earlier win will act as a building block for the side to be able to pull off a first league double over Charlton in the club’s history.
Players to watch
Kelvin Etuhu has been a solid part of the Barnsley squad this year and after making his comeback from suspension when he was red carded against Brighton two weeks ago, and has settled back into the team well.
Despite not scoring yet for Barnsley since signing in 2012, Etuhu’s contribution isn’t to be discounted as he has been at the heart of the positives that the club has achieved on the pitch since his arrival.
Coming from a well-known footballing family, Etuhu started his career at Manchester City looking to follow in the footsteps on his older brother Dickson who was well on his way to becoming an established name at the time.
During his time at Manchester City, Etuhu spent the majority of his time out on loan looking to develop his game. Enjoying spells with Rochdale, Leicester and Cardiff, Etuhu was on the track to becoming a future prospect.
After a brief period out of football, Etuhu signed for struggling Portsmouth as the club were falling through the divisions and struggling with money problems.
Due to Pompey’s well documented financial problems at the time, Etuhu left Portsmouth by mutual consent in 2012 and moved to Barnsley.
Marvin Sordell has long been a well-known name in English football and his loan spell at Charlton this season is just his latest exploit.
Starting out at Watford, Sordell had some tough competition to deal with in the attacking ranks as the likes of Troy Deeney and Danny Graham were gunning for his place in the starting line-up.
Credit to himself, Sordell managed to hold down his place in the team and his success soon attracted attention from the top flight. Bolton were the ones who took their interest all the way and Sordell signed for the then Premier League strugglers in 2012.
Also in 2012, Sordell was given the honour of representing Great Britain in the Olympics as Stuart Pearce included him in the side for the London games.
Now with Charlton on a temporary basis, Sordell has a point to prove as he will be doing all he can assist Charlton in their bid for Championship survival.
Team News
No new injury concerns means that Danny Wilson’s squad is at it was last week. The most notable of the absences for the Reds is Marcus Pedersen who remains out of action due to a hamstring injury.
Several key faces in the Barnsley side have made their comeback recently and they can only strengthen Barnsley’s hopes of survival.
For the home side, defender Chris Solly could make his comeback after a long term injury and Lawrie Wilson will continue to nurse his fractured eye socket from behind his protective mask.
League Form
Barnsley
L- (A) Bolton 1-0
L- (H) Burnley 1-0
D-(H) Brighton 0-0
W- (A) Yeovil 4-1
W- (A) Reading 3-1
Charlton
L- (A) Brighton 3-0
W- (H) Yeovil 3-2
L- (H) Reading 1-0
W- (A) Leeds 1-0
L- (A) Derby 3-0
Betting
Barnsley win : 13/5
Charlton win: 21/20
Draw: 12/5
1st goal scorer:
Chris O’Grady: 6/1
Marvin Sordell: 11/2
Officials
Referee- Iain Williamson
Assistant Referees- Barry Holderness & Alan Dale
Fourth Official- Andy Davies
