BARNSLEY FOOTBALL CLUB

The Reds will hope to return to winning ways on Saturday afternoon as they host a much improved Scunthorpe side at Oakwell.

Following Russ Wilcox’s dismissal from Glanford Park in early October, former Barnsley boss Mark Robins was sworn in as his replacement and the Iron have not looked back since, losing just once in six games.

With their last game against the MK Dons postponed due to international call-ups the Iron are currently unbeaten in three games in both league and cup, including an impressive 2-1 success at promotion favourites Peterborough.

The Iron remain in the League One relegation zone however, with the Club’s woeful home record of four defeats in their last five at Glanford Park proving detrimental

Despite that, Robins’ new side have been a complete contrast on the road; unbeaten in their last five away from home, drawing two and winning three in all competitions.

Barnsley will be extremely wary of that away form as they welcome the North Lincolnshire side to Oakwell but the Reds will be looking to continue their own recent upturn in form which saw them go four games without defeat.

Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Chesterfield ended that unbeaten spell but with three wins in their last five home games, Danny Wilson’s men will be confident of an immediate response on Saturday.

A narrow 3-2 reverse against an in-form Notts County side in late October was the last time the Reds have tasted defeat on home soil and they will be seeking back-to-back home league victories for the first time this term when Scunthorpe arrive at Oakwell.

The Reds and the Iron will do battle in the league for the first time in three seasons when they meet on Saturday afternoon.

The Clubs crossed paths briefly last season in the Capital One Cup, with Barnsley edging out the-then League Two outfit 5-4 on penalties at Oakwell.

You have to go back to the 2010-11 campaign for the last league action between the sides however, with two cagey Championship meetings.

Earlier in the season it ended all square at Glanford Park with both sides struggling to break down their opposing defences but in March 2011 there was no such problem, as Marlon Harewood struck a second-half double as the Tykes secured a 2-1 victory in front of their home faithful.

That success was the Reds' third in the last five meetings between the two sides at Oakwell and you have to go back nearly 60 years for the Iron’s last triumph in Barnsley, as they completed the double over the Tykes in the 1958-59 old division two campaign.

Barnsley midfielder Conor Hourihane is available for the visit of Scunthorpe this weekend despite reports of a suspension. The Reds’ top goal scorer was wrongly adjudged to have picked up a caution in the Club’s 2-1 loss at Chesterfield last Saturday and is now set to make his 22nd appearance of the season against the Iron.

Joining Hourihane in the Barnsley midfield could be Australian winger Ryan Williams, with the on-loan Fulham man hoping to recover from the ankle injury which saw him fail to feature whilst on international duty.

The Iron look set to hand on-loan full-back Richard Brindley his Scunthorpe debut on Saturday afternoon following his switch from Rotherham on Tuesday.

The defender has featured just three times this season and will be seeking regular action over the next month as he tries to force his way back into the Millers reckoning in January.

Brindley will be teaming up with a very familiar face to the Barnsley faithful, in the form of Rory Fallon, who made 33 league starts for the Reds after progressing through the academy at Oakwell. 

The ex-New Zealand international joined the Iron in September on a short-term deal following a brief stay at Crawley and has netted three times in five appearances for Saturday’s visitors so far this term.

Fellow former Barnsley youth product Terry Hawkridge will also be part of the travelling Scunthorpe squad this weekend, with the young winger featuring for both the Reds and Tranmere at youth level before a spell in non-league which ended in June last year when he joined the Iron for an undisclosed fee from Gainsborough Trinity.

James Linington will take charge of his first Barnsley game of the season when Scunthorpe visit Oakwell on Saturday afternoon.

The Newport-based official has so far been paired away from the Reds this season but was the man in the middle as the Tykes picked up a 2-1 win at Brighton last season.

Linington’s previous two encounters with the Reds have not proved as fruitful however, with the official overseeing defeats at both Reading and QPR in 2010.

The clash at Oakwell will be Linington’s 18th of the season, having dished out 42 yellow cards and six red, the most recent of which came last Friday as the referee dismissed Reading’s Alex Pearce in the Royals’ 2-1 defeat at Cardiff.

In January Scunthorpe became the ninth Club to sign explosive winger Gary McSheffrey. Since signing on the dotted line at Glanford Park the ex-England youth international has been a revelation, helping the Iron to promotion from League Two last season and scoring some vital goals this time out.

The 32-year-old has netted five times in 20 appearances, including the second in a 2-0 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy victory against his former club Chesterfield and a brace as the North Lincolnshire outfit swept aside Forest Green in the first round of the FA Cup earlier this month.

The much-travelled wideman – who began his career with hometown club Coventry – also has six assists to his name this season, which is just two fewer than leader Daniel Johnson.

Paul Hayes is a name that both Barnsley and Scunthorpe supporters will not forget in a hurry. The well-travelled striker has over 100 Football League goals to his name, with a large proportion of them coming at both Oakwell and Glanford Park, after enjoying two spells with the Reds and three with the Iron.

Hayes first joined the Tykes during the summer of 2005 from Scunthorpe and he made an instant impression, scoring 13 times including the opener in the League One play-off final at Wembley as the Reds won promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2005-06 campaign.

His next season in South Yorkshire did not prove as prolific however and after spending part of the season on loan at Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield, the former Norwich City trainee rejoined the Iron in June 2007.

After three years away from Oakwell, the marksman returned on loan from new club Preston in 2010 but despite making seven appearances he failed to notch during his short stay with the Club.

The current Wycombe captain signed his first deal with Scunthorpe in December 2002 after arriving from Norwich where he had progressed through the Club’s youth ranks without making a senior appearance.

Hayes scored 34 times in two-and-a-half years for the Iron, including 19 to help them clinch promotion to League One during the 2004-05 season. Following his two year stay at Oakwell, the striker completed his second move to Glanford Park in June 2007 and scored 40 goals in three seasons, helping them to promotion once again, but this time to the Championship in May 2009.

Despite that, he joined Preston a year later and after periods at Charlton and Brentford the frontman rejoined the Iron for a third time in December last year. It was one to remember for Hayes however, scoring four times as Scunthorpe finished second in League Two and sealed their promotion back to the third tier of English football. 

If you can't make it to Oakwell for Saturday's match, you can still listen to all of the game live on Barnsley Player.