Ahead of our Sky Bet Championship trip to Charlton Athletic on Saturday, Head Coach Gerhard Struber has confirmed that Marcel Ritzmaier will not be part of the travelling squad.
The Austrian midfielder is side-lined and is unavailable for Barnsley as they visit the Valley to face an Addicks side who sit four points above the drop zone.
“We have a problem with Marcel; he has a swollen knee and, for Saturday, it’s too early and is high risk when he plays,” said Struber. “He’s the only one that cannot play.”
Barnsley are looking to bounce back from last weekend’s Emirates FA Cup defeat at Portsmouth and get back to winning ways in the league with what could prove to be a crucial three points.
The Reds took all three points on their last outing in London, with Patrick Schmidt scoring a dramatic late winner at Millwall over the festive period and Struber is hopeful that his side can put their recent poor results behind them.
“I think in every case we must create a better game, especially the situation around set plays,” continued the Head Coach. “When we are on the ball, we need a better positioning and the boys understand, after the game, what our big problem was.
“We’ve had a good week training and this is a very big game for us, but it’s not the final game; we will create a very good performance on Saturday – this is our aim – and we will prepare the team in the right direction. We hope we can bring a similar performance like the last games and not like Portsmouth or Preston; this was not the normal style.”
You can watch Gerhard’s press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
