Heading into our Sky Bet Championship clash with Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon, Valérien Ismaël provided an injury update after Dominik Frieser limped out of the midweek victory at Huddersfield Town.
The Austrian forward is ruled out for the visit of the Millers, joining Herbie Kane, Liam Kitching and long-term absentee Ben Williams on the sidelines.
“It could be a couple of weeks, maybe three,” stated Ismaël. “I know last year he had the same injury and came back quickly. If it’s the same case, it will be good for us but if not, we will find a solution.
“You are never happy as a manager but you have to deal with it and take into account that something like that could happen. We have the solution and a possibility and, when the season is so long, you have to accept that the tiredness and fatigue over the season can happen.”
With three fixtures remaining, Barnsley are six points clear of seventh place Reading and a draw could be enough to secure a place in the play-offs this weekend, providing the Royals lose against Swansea City on Sunday.
Rotherham head to Oakwell in the relegation zone, four points from safety but with two games in hand on those at the foot of the table.
However, Ismaël is anticipating a difficult encounter and another battle similar to our previous home assignments against Birmingham City, Millwall and Middlesbrough.
“We are not over the line,” asserted our Head Coach. “We need to stay focused on the next game and it will be a tough game against Rotherham. They are fighting for their lives and it will be a tense game. We have to do the basics and be ruthless – this is the performance we have to do on Saturday to get the three points.
“We are in a situation where we are just focused on getting the job done. We know the meaning for every game for our fans – we are ready to give 100%, we are back on our way and we saw this on Wednesday.
“It doesn’t matter who our opponent is, we will give everything to win the game.”
