Reds vs Leicester
Tuesday 11th March 2014
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Saturday’s 1-0 win over Forest was the perfect way for Danny Wilson’s Barnsley side to get back on track after the heavy defeat to local rivals Huddersfield Town.
Forest have been in a slump of late and the Reds took full advantage to add three points to their overall tally.
It was Dale Jennings who won it for Barnsley with his first goal for the club since arriving from Bayern Munich last summer. Forest came close several times although some resolute defending from Barnsley sealed the win.
This latest win sees the Reds now 23rd ahead of table topping Leicester’s visit on Tuesday.
Leicester will be tough opposition for Barnsley as their form of late has rocketed them up to the top of the table as they have taken 11 points from the last five games.
Record
This will be the 105th time that this fixture has been played in the Football League.
Barnsley wins: 25
Leicester wins: 48
Draw: 31
Memory Lane
Back in September, this fixture ended 2-1 to Leicester at King Power Stadium as David Nugent scored twice.
In that game Barnsley did have a goal wrongly ruled out for offside and Jason Scotland netted the consolation although it wasn’t enough to get the Reds back on level terms.
Barnsley’s last victory over Leicester came in April 2013 as the Reds ran out 2-0 winners at Oakwell.
That day it was an own goal from Michael Kean and a Chris O’Grady strike that sealed all three important points for the Reds.
Players to watch
Dale Jennings scored his first goal for the Reds on Saturday against Forest since his move back to England from German giants Bayern Munich.
Still only 21 years old, Jennings has already had an illustrious career. Starting out at Tranmere he gained attention quickly from larger clubs and offers were reportedly turned down from Premier League sides.
To the surprise of many, Jennings opted to make the move to Germany where he would play for Bayern’s reserve side.
To his own disappoint, he never managed to break into the first side for the German team as injuries plagued his time on the continent.
Hopefully Jennings’ first goal last weekend will be the start of many for the Reds as his career in England is looking to get back to where it left off.
David Nugent tops the scorers list for Leicester this season with 19 goals so far. His exploits in front of goal have gone a long way to ensure that his side sit top and are eight points clear at this crucial time.
Nugent is a proven goal scorer across the Football League and has enjoyed other goal rich spells at the likes of Preston and Portsmouth.
Team News
Bobby Hassell is still out with a calf injury and has so far missed a significant chunk of the season. Also joining him on the injury list is Liverpool loanee Ryan McLaughlin who is not to be risked after picking up a knock. American international Brek Shea has returned to parent club Stoke City.
Jim O’Brien looks to be a doubt as he is carrying a knee problem which will be assessed on Tuesday, aside from this Danny Wilson has almost a full squad to choose from.
Leicester come to Oakwell also with almost a fully fit squad, Nigel Pearson’s only new injury concern is Lloyd Dyer (Achilles). Sean St. Ledger (Knee) and Tom Hopper (Shin) both remain long term absentees.
League Form
Barnsley
W- (H) Forest 1-0
L- (A) Huddersfield 5-0
W- (H) Millwall 1-0
L- (A) Wigan 2-0
D- (A) Doncaster 2-2
Leicester
W- (H) Charlton 3-0
W- (H) Ipswich 3-0
D- (A) Forest 2-2
D- (H) Watford 2-2
W- (A) Bournemouth 1-0
Betting
Barnsley win: 7/2
Leicester win: 3/4
Draw: 13/5
First goal scorer
Dave Nugent: 3/1
Chris O’Grady: 7/1
Officials
Referee- Mark Haywood
Assistant Referees - David Plowright & Andy Hendley
Fourth Official- Gary Sutton