Chris Stern says that Barnsley need to be wary of a Birmingham reaction when the two sides meet on Tuesday evening.
The Blues suffered a 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday with Joe Lolley, Lewis Grabban and Michael Dawson all on target at the City Ground.
“Having watched the game at the weekend, they had a blow at Nottingham Forest – similar to us against Carlisle,” said Stern. “Every time this happens you want to react stronger, so we need to be alert and we’re aware of that, but I think we have a good chance to take three points from Birmingham.”
Barnsley’s recent record at Birmingham makes for particularly pleasant reading. The Reds haven’t lost at St Andrews since August 2008, picking up three wins and two draws – including that famous 5-0 victory in September 2012.
Our last visit to City proved to be fruitful as well, with Oli McBurnie scoring both goals in a 2-0 triumph, and Stern is hopeful that Barnsley can continue their fine form against the Blues.
“I’ve been told that we have a very good record against Birmingham – especially away,” continued the Reds’ First Team Coach. “We always bring lots of supporters to the game, so we hope we can make them happy.
“It’s a totally different game to the others; they’ll be hoping to show a good performance compared to the weekend and we hope we can keep up our good record against them.”
The Reds put in a fine display against Charlton Athletic at the weekend and were unfortunate not to claim all three points in what was an entertaining encounter at Oakwell.
Cauley Woodrow and Conor Chaplin both got off the mark for the season, but the hosts were pegged back by Conor Gallagher and Lyle Taylor’s late penalty.
However, Stern insists that the performance was exactly the sort of reaction Barnsley needed following two consecutive defeats.
“On Saturday, we had what the staff required from the players: passion, emotion, fight and 100% as soon as they put the shirt on,” asserted the German. “I think the fans appreciated it – we appreciated it – and it’s the way Barnsley need to play and the amount of effort we need to put in to win games.”
You can watch Chris’ full press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
