WYCOMBE WANDERERS PREVIEW

15 March 2021

The fixtures keep on coming, and it's another long, midweek away trip for Barnsley as they head to Adams Park to take on the Chairboys!

The Reds travel to Buckinghamshire on Wednesday 17 March for a 7pm meeting with Sky Bet Championship debutants Wycombe Wanderers.

Another three-hour journey in this marathon of a 20/21 campaign, as Barnsley head into the home straight with just 10 fixtures left to play.

They go to Adams Park in fine fettle. Saturday's latest three-point success away at Bournemouth not only tightened their grip on sixth position, it increased the gap to the Cherries just behind them to five points.

Coming from behind yet again this season, the 3-2 victory at Vitality Stadium lifted the Reds up to 61 points - the highest total at this level since the year 2000 with another 30 points still on offer.

Goals from Michał Helik (his sixth this season), Dominik Frieser and Carlton Morris helped Barnsley to possibly their most impressive win of the season, particulary having gone in at half-time 2-1 down.

We are starting to see some notable achievements during this outstanding campaign, with the Reds' win on the South Coast making it four consecutive away victories in one second tier season for the first time since 1925.

The Reds have never before - at second tier level - won five consecutive away games in a season.

That Dean Court triumph was our eighth win on the road during 20/21. The record number of away wins for Barnsley at this level in a single season is nine; achieved twice before, in the 1999/2000 season under Dave Bassett and then again under Paul Heckingbottom in 2016/17.

Of course, the Reds also remain on a long unbeaten run. It's now stretched out to 11 league games (eight wins and three draws) since defeat at Watford in January.

It is our longest unbeaten run in this division since the Reds went 12 games without loss during the 2001/02 campaign which actually saw us relegated under Steve Parkin.

Next up for Valérien Ismaël's in-form side are the team currently sat 24th in the Championship standings. And whilst most pundits had the Chairboys down as relegation favourites when the first ball was kicked this season, Wycombe are not going back down without a fight.

Nine points from safety makes the task look fairly unlikely, but the Reds themselves fought their way out of bother when faced with a similarly bleak-looking situation just last term.

Wanderers' main issue this season has been a lack of goals. Just 24 scored in their 36 games played so far, the worst record in the division.

Prior to the weekend victory over Preston North End at Adams Park (1-0), the Chairboys had lost four games on the bounce, all without scoring.

Four of their six league victories were on home soil, including a 1-0 win over fifth-placed Reading just last month.

When the Reds met Wycombe at Oakwell at the beginning of December, it was a terrible spectacle that Barnsley edged 2-1 thanks to a second-half Cauley Woodrow penalty.

The last time we visited Adams Park was in December of 2018 when we left empty-handed, losing 1-0 during our League One promotion campaign.

Club News

WATCH THE REDS AT WYCOMBE

15 March 2021

That defeat is our only one against the Chairboys, albeit having only met each other on seven occasions stretching back to our first ever clash in 2002.

We will have live coverage of Wednesday night's clash with Wycombe Wanderers on iFollow Barnsley, with Matt Bailey joined on the mic by ex-Red Wayne Goodison.

Match Reports

REDS EARN FIFTH CONSECUTIVE AWAY WIN

17 March 2021

Barnsley extended their long unbeaten record with a history-making away victory at Adams Park.

A Daryl Dike double and a Cauley Woodrow spot-kick helped the in-form Reds to another Sky Bet Championship win here in High Wycombe.

The first time in the club's history that five successive away wins have been registered at this level across one campaign.

In a first half that was controlled for the most part by Valérien Ismaël's side, chances came and went for Barnsley who looked destined to head into the break goalless.

Dike saw an early strike from just inside the box deflect up and over the crossbar whilst the visitors pressed high, earning a raft of set pieces that the Chairboys struggled to defend.

The impressive Dominik Frieser saw an angled, low drive blocked on the line and with Reds attackers ready to pounce on the rebound, the home side managed to hook the ball behind at the last minute.

Both Michał Helik and Frieser again went close to finding the opener from the left side of the box, but were thwarted by last-ditch challenges, before the referee spotted a defender dragging Helik to the foor inside the six yard box, awarding Barnsley a penalty kick.

Up stepped Woodrow who made no mistake, rifling the dead ball into the bottom corner with real venom, giving the Reds a deserved lead at half-time.

HALF-TIME: Wycombe 0-1 Barnsley

The Reds began the second period as they'd ended the first, attacking at will and on 49 minutes, a long throw from Frieser eventually made its way to Mads Andersen at the far post and when he headed back across goal, there was Dike to nod home for 2-0.

There were a number of substitutions at this point, with Barnsley well in charge of the affair. But referee Darren Bond deemed an Alex Mowatt tackle just outside the box to be reckless and sent off the Reds' skipper, leaving Ismaël's side a man light for the remaining 20 minutes.

Little changed in terms of momentum and in fact it was Barnsley who added a third goal, and again it was the man from Oklahoma with the finish.

Callum Brittain's inch-perfect low cross was stabbed home with precision inside the box by Daryl, celebrating a fifth goal since signing for the Reds.

There was a late consolation goal for the hosts through Ikpeazu, but it was the Reds' evening, and their record-breaking streak continues at pace.

FULL-TIME: Wycombe 1-3 Barnsley

Collins, Brittain, Sollbauer (Sibbick), Helik, Andersen, Styles (Williams), Mowatt, Palmer (Halme), Woodrow (Kane), Dike, Frieser (Morris).

Unused: Walton, Oduor, Adeboyejo, Chaplin.