Reds Manager David Flitcroft caught up with the press ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with Brighton & Hove Albion at Oakwell.
Hoping for a return to the side is Irishman Stephen Dawson, who has been out with ankle ligament damage.
“He could play some part tomorrow,” said Flitcroft of Dawson. “He’s not trained today because the training pitches have been frosted over.
“I’ve not seen him in action because he can’t do the indoor surface.
“I’ll check and see where he’s at. But I’ love to see him involved tomorrow.
“We’ve trained on the indoor and the intensity’s been good.”
Other than Jimmy McNulty, the Barnsley boss has a clean bill of health ahead of the Seagulls’ visit to South Yorkshire and is still actively seeking a loan addition.
“We’ve put phone calls in again,” he said. “I think as soon as teams feel safer and they don’t need as big a squad size, we might see something.
“One player we didn’t think we could have, the team got three points on Saturday and maybe the Manager is softening up a touch.
“The work to get players has been relentless. We’ve spoken to all our contacts – every different person involved.
“The better players are playing. You might get some young player who might not be ready to come in.”
As for Brighton as a challenge, guided by former Uruguay international Gus Poyet, Flitcroft said,” They epitomise what Gus is about. They’ve got punch, class and a certain style to how they play. They’ve turned in
more wins than last season. I think their objective at the start of the season was to get into the play-offs. They’re a team that even though they attack with a lot of numbers, they get back in a lot of numbers.
more wins than last season. I think their objective at the start of the season was to get into the play-offs. They’re a team that even though they attack with a lot of numbers, they get back in a lot of numbers.
“It’s a mammoth task. But our players want to get out there and play that game, I’ve seen it in training today.
“I’ve reaffirmed it with the players about what we’ve achieved,” continued Flitcroft.
“This challenge we faced was out of the window when we took over and now we’ve a fighting chance.
“We’ve set what we want to do against Brighton.
“We’ve got to stick to our plan and see how it turns out. The boys are wanting the fight.
“We can’t look at other results. All we can do is affect what’s out on that pitch.
“We’ve had some incredible results. This team of players have beaten some incredible Championship teams and that’s what I’ve reaffirmed to them today. They still believe they’re up for this colossal challenge.”
