All the pre-match information you need ahead of the Reds EFL Sky Bet Championship clash against Newcastle United at Oakwell.
Barnsley v Newcastle United
The Reds will be looking to rediscover some of their early season form when they welcome Newcastle to Oakwell.
Five wins from their first seven Championship games saw Paul Heckingbottom’s side climb to third place in the table but following the Club’s impressive 4-0 success at Wolves, they went five games without a victory which included four defeats.
Visitors Newcastle will provide the Tykes with another stern test but with triumphs already at Oakwell this season against the likes of QPR and Derby County, Heckingbottom’s men will certainly be no pushovers for the high-flying Magpies.
Rafael Benitez’s side arrive in South Yorkshire, having lost just once on the road all season.
That defeat came on the opening day of the campaign at Fulham but since then the North East based Club have won four and drawn one on their travels which included a 6-0 thrashing of QPR at Loftus Road last month.
In their six games on the road, the Magpies have also conceded just twice and with four clean sheets during that run they are certain to provide strong opposition for the Tykes.
Previous Meetings
Barnsley will be looking to end a run of 10 games without a win against Newcastle when they welcome Rafael Benitez’s side to Oakwell for Tuesday night’s match.
The Reds’ dismal record against the Magpies stretches all the way back to December 1992 which is when Barnsley last tasted victory in this fixture with a 1-0 home success.
Since then there have been two draws and eight Newcastle wins in this clash, with the most recent of those triumphs coming in March 2010 when the Tykes went down 6-1 at St James’ Park.
Despite that however, Barnsley did manage to avoid defeat in the last game between the sides at Oakwell with Bobby Hassell’s 87th minute equaliser rescuing a point for the Reds.
That was the 12th draw in this fixture, with Newcastle currently leading the winning stakes with 18 compared to Barnsley’s 11.
Team News
Barnsley will continue to be without full-back Aidy White for the visit of Newcastle United. The defender recently underwent surgery and has missed the Reds’ last four games due to a gluteal problem.
He is set to return after the next international break, meaning Cole Kpekawa will continue at left-back in White’s absence.
Elsewhere, on-loan Celtic winger Saidy Janko is still struggling with a thigh problem, while Ryan Williams is continuing his push towards a first team return.
Visitors Newcastle will be keeping a close eye on the fitness of striker Daryl Murphy who recently withdrew from the Republic of Ireland squad with a calf injury.
Rob Elliot and Massadio Haidara are closing in on returns from long-term knee injuries but are unlikely to feature at Oakwell, while Rolando Aarons remains out with a fractured metatarsal.
Man in the Middle
Lancastrian Paul Tierney will take charge of his eighth Barnsley game. The Reds have experienced a mixed set of results in his company; winning three, drawing one and losing three.
The Club’s most recent meeting with the Lancashire-based referee was one of those three defeats, as they went down 1-0 in Lancashire against Preston North End on Boxing Day 2014.
Newcastle meanwhile have met with the referee on just one previous occasion and it proved an unhappy afternoon for the Magpies as they suffered a 3-1 home loss against AFC Bournemouth in March.
Tierney brandished just one yellow card in that game, but so far this term he has dished out 30 yellows in eight games, as well as one red which he showed to Oxford winger Alex MacDonald in his side’s goalless draw at Swindon two weeks ago.
Their Star Man
In July, forward Dwight Gayle became Rafael Benitez’s second summer signing following Newcastle’s relegation from the Premier League.
Joining on a five-year deal for a fee in the region of £10million, the former Arsenal trainee – who was playing in non-league as recently as 2011 – was seen as the man to fire the Magpies back into the top flight.
The former Dagenham & Redbridge and Peterborough front man made the move from Crystal Palace, where he spent three seasons; scoring 26 times, seven of which came last term.
With the Newcastle faithful buoyed by his arrival, it didn’t take long for the 25-year-old to impress; hitting four goals in his first four appearances including a brace at home to Reading.
The London-born forward did then go four games without a goal but he rediscovered his goal scoring boots in style at the end of last month; bagging a hat-trick in Newcastle’s dramatic come-from-behind victory against Norwich at St James’ Park before adding two more to his tally against Brentford at the weekend.
That scintillating performance meant that prior to Newcastle’s game against The Bees on Saturday, seven of Gayle’s 15 shots on target this season had hit the back of the net. With that in mind, as well as his blistering pace, the forward has everything in his locker to become St James’ Park’s new hero.
Mutual Man
In March 2005, Northumberland-born Peter Ramage made his long awaited Newcastle debut against Olympiakos after coming through the youth ranks at St James’ Park.
That would be the first of 69 appearances that the defender played in the black and white of Newcastle, with his first start coming at Old Trafford a month after his debut.
Ramage played a large chunk of those games during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 campaigns; making 61 appearances over two seasons as he became somewhat of a regular in the Newcastle defence.
Despite that however he made only three appearances in the following 2007-08 season and at the end of the campaign his 12 year stay with the Club, both as a trainee and a first team player, came to an end and he joined QPR on a three year deal.
The versatile defender spent four years with the R’s which included loan spells at Crystal Palace and Birmingham City but in August 2012 he completed a permanent switch to Palace.
It was from the Eagles that Ramage joined the Reds, penning a loan move to Oakwell from Selhurst Park in September 2013, just over a year after joining them. He made his Tykes debut in a 3-2 loss at Nottingham Forest, which was one of 25 starts he made for the Club during that stay.
Despite the Reds suffering relegation from the Championship in that season, Ramage returned for a second loan spell in October 2014 and marked his comeback with a goal, as he headed the winner in a 1-0 triumph at Rochdale.
That goal was one of three which he netted for the Tykes; appearing 23 times for the Club in the 2014-15 campaign.
Upon his return to parent Club Palace, the 32-year-old was released and following a spell in India with the Kerala Blasters, Ramage played for both Coventry and Leyton Orient before joining American outfit Arizona United SC in August.
Form Guide
Barnsley’s last five at home before playing Fulham: (WWWLD)
Barnsley 2-0 Derby County (13/08/2016)
Barnsley 3-2 Queens Park Rangers (17/08/2016)
Barnsley 4-0 Rotherham United (27/08/2016)
Barnsley 1-2 Reading (17/09/2016)
Barnsley 1-1 Aston Villa (27/09/2016)
Newcastle’s last five away from home: (WWWDW)
Bristol City 0-1 Newcastle United (20/08/2016)
Derby County 0-2 Newcastle United (10/09/2016)
Queens Park Rangers 0-6 Newcastle United (13/09/2016)
Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle United (24/09/2016)
Rotherham United 0-1 Newcastle United (01/10/2016)
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