NOTTINGHAM FOREST PREVIEW

27 September 2021

Everything you need to know about our midweek clash with Forest here at Oakwell on Wednesday night!

There's a quick opportunity for Barnsley to find their way to a long-overdue victory as we welcome Nottingham Forest to Oakwell on Wednesday in a 7.45pm kick-off.

That wait for what would be just a second league win continues at least until then, following the weekend loss at Blackpool, where Shane Lavery's first half strike was enough to condemn the Reds to a third defeat of the season.

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Despite close to 3,000 Reds supporters turning out at the seaside, Markus Schopp's side were unable to use that backing in trying to find a first away win of the new campaign. Big chances at the end of both halves were again not taken, as we registered another blank in front of goal - our third in the last four games.

The Reds have now slipped to 20th in the Sky Bet Championship standings, ahead of two home fixtures this week against two sides who are also struggling for form.

On Wednesday night we will be visited by a Nottingham Forest side who have also won just the one match so far in 21/22, but who will be hoping for the new manager bounce having only recently installed former Swansea City boss Steve Cooper as their new head coach.

He replaced the experienced Chris Hughton who led Forest to six defeats from seven fixtures. The former Swans manager is known only too well to the Reds, having been the man to get the better of Barnsley last season in the end-of-season play-offs.

With fresh-faced youngsters emerging at the City Ground in the shape of Alex Mighten and Brennan Johnson, and now with a new man at the helm, perhaps Forest will soon push on up the table, having taken four points from their last two matches.

The weekend's 1-1 home draw against Millwall followed a fine 2-0 victory on the road at our Yorkshire neighbours Huddersfield Town when last on their travels. One of the division's most prolific strikers, Lewis Grabban was on the scoresheet against the Terriers but he was subbed off with an injury on Saturday and it's unknown if he'll be available for Wednesday night's clash.

Barnsley haven't been beaten in this fixture at Oakwell since a 5-2 drubbing in November of 2016, when Henri Lansbury grabbed a hat-trick live on Sky Sports. Last season, the Res edged out the visitors twice here, in both league and cup.

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And this is a fixture that the Reds do fare well in, historically speaking. They hold 33 wins to Forest's 31 and we could certainly do with adding to that winning tally in a couple of days time, aiming to kick-start a campaign that just hasn't got going yet for Schopp or his young charges.

Wednesday night’s game against Forest will be broadcast live in the UK by both Sky Sports and iFollow Barnsley. Sky Sports Arena is scheduled to show the 7.45pm kick-off live and, as this match has been selected as a co-exclusive broadcast, it will also be shown live on our own streaming service.

You can buy a match pass to watch the game for £10 in the UK, just click the link below for more information.

iFollow

The referee for the clash is Mr Geoff Eltringham. An experienced official, the man from County Durham last visited Oakwell in the first leg of last season's Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final defeat against Swansea.

He has taken control of a Forest match already this term however, a 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth where he sent off the Cherries' David Brooks.

Match Reports

REDS BEATEN BY FOREST

29 September 2021

Barnsley fell to defeat after Nottingham Forest overturned a deficit to claim a 3-1 victory under the lights at Oakwell.

The early stages were devoid of clear-cut opportunities as both sides struggled to get a foothold in the game.

Forest were the first to call a goalkeeper into action, forcing Brad Collins to be alert and collect a driven cross from Brennan Johnson after the midfielder surged down the right flank.

Collins then gave the Oakwell faithful a brief scare with a miscued clearance that fell to Joe Lolley but had his blushes spared by a skewed speculative effort.

However, it was the hosts that drew first blood when Tobias Figueiredo felled Cauley Woodrow inside the box, allowing the Reds captain to step up and convert from the penalty spot.

The opener rallied Markus Schopp’s men, who ramped up the pressure for a spell after breaking the deadlock.

The ball fell kindly for Romal Palmer on the right-hand side of the box, but the midfielder could not find the right side of the crossbar with a rising strike.

However, as Forest pushed for an equaliser, the Reds found themselves weathering a storm and Liam Kitching was forced to make a superb block to prevent a dangerous Djed Spence cross wreaking havoc.

Lolley then burst forward down the left flank and unleashed a powerful low strike, which whistled past the post to the relief of the Reds.

James Garner was the next to try his luck for Forest but saw his tame shot from distance held comfortably by Collins.

A frenetic period had followed the goal but chances diminished in frequency as the half-time whistle approached.

HALF-TIME: Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest

Barnsley almost doubled their lead within eight minutes of the restart but Samba managed to palm away a close-range effort from Woodrow.

It was then the turn of the visitors to threaten but Kitching rescued the Reds with a spectacular last-ditch challenge, thwarting Johnson as he raced through on goal.

Collins was the next to deny Forest, making a crucial save from a Philip Zinckernagel shot after Lolley had cut the ball back from the left.

However, Zinckernagel found the target less than two minutes later when he put Forest back on level terms. Johnson lured Collins out of his goal before squaring to the Dane, who was able to steer into a vacated net.

Zinckernagel then turned provider by threading through to Johnson, who produced a composed finish to edge Forest ahead.

With momentum firmly behind Forest, they continued to test the Reds and Zinckernagel stung the palms of Collins with a thunderous strike from the right-hand side of the box.

The lead was soon extended when Alex Mighten darted into the box with the help of some deft footwork before firing across goal, putting the ball on a plate for Lewis Grabban to tap into an empty net.

Steve Cooper’s side continued to pile pressure on the Barnsley backline and Collins had to react quickly to get down and hold on to a left-footed drive from Jack Colback.

With a minute left on the clock, the Reds came close to pulling a goal back when Woodrow found Leya Iseka and the forward drew an impressive from Samba with a powerful header.

FULL-TIME: Barnsley 1-3 Nottingham Forest

Barnsley: Collins, J. Williams, Styles, Kitching, Brittain, Woodrow (c), Moon, Palmer (Leya Iseka 72’), Oduor (Gomes 80’),Frieser (Adeboyejo 65’), Helik.