Barnsley U18s welcome Sheffield Wednesday to the Oakwell Training Complex on Saturday morning looking to put last week’s defeat to Birmingham City behind them.
The young Reds had led 2-0, but were pegged back by the Blues who sealed all three points with a dramatic late goal to seal an unlikely comeback.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Barnsley, who had won consecutive games against Crewe Alexandra and Leeds United heading into the fixture.
However, Adam Murray and Tom Harban’s side can climb as high as sixth this weekend with victory in the South Yorkshire derby.
“It was disappointing to lose 3-2, but I don’t really think we played too well - normally we’re a lot better than that,” said Rudi Pache. “We hit the post and missed crucial chances as well, so we could have actually got something out of the game.
“We had a really good performance against Leeds and I thought we might have been able to build on that, but it just didn’t work out against Birmingham.”
The Owls are currently third in the Professional Development League North - just one point behind leaders Nottingham Forest.
These two sides have scored 43 goals between them so far this season, with Wednesday’s Charles Hagan and Jordan O’Brien plundering 12 of those.
With eight goals conceded, Andy Houldsworth’s young side have the best defensive record in the league, but Pache feels that Barnsley have enough about them to cause Saturday’s visitors problems.
“I think we can do well against Sheffield Wednesday,” continued the Reds’ defender. "With it being a derby, we tend to up our game - like we did against Leeds - so I’m confident that we can go and get a win at the weekend.”
You can see how the young Reds fare by attending the game at the Oakwell Training Complex, kick-off at 10:30am.
