Barnsley were held to a 0-0 draw by Blackburn Rovers at Oakwell on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds enjoyed more chances than their visitors from Lancashire, but were unable to make it count in the final third as Clarke Oduor, Michał Helik, Dominik Frieser, Callum Brittain, Victor Adeboyejo and Callum Styles all came close to finding a winner.
Markus Schopp made two changes from our midweek draw at Stoke City, with Claudio Gomes and Oduor coming in for Romal Palmer and Frieser.
After weathering an early Blackburn storm, the Reds almost took the lead when Oduor embarked on a mazy, slaloming run through midfield before nutmegging Darragh Lenihan only to be denied by the legs on Thomas Kaminski.
The visitors rallied again and put a couple of threatening deliveries into our box that flashed across the face of goal, but nothing that troubled Brad Collins too much.
With chances few and far between in the opening 45, another came and went for Barnsley as Helik saw his header from Cauley Woodrow’s corner gathered comfortably by Kaminski.
HALF-TIME: Barnsley 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
At the interval, Frieser replaced Aaron Leya Iseka, while Toby Sibbick made way for Will Hondermarck as Brittain shifted to right wing-back.
An injury to Gomes just before the hour mark saw another reshuffle for the Reds as Adeboyejo entered the fray with Oduor moving wide and Styles slotting into central midfield.
The introduction of Adeboyejo added a bit of spark to our attack as the forward jinked his way past three Rovers defenders before winning a corner. From the resulting set-piece, Frieser saw his header acrobatically tipped over by Kaminski.
Blackburn still posed a threat, particularly on the counter, and Collins had to be at his best to keep Ben Brereton Díaz at bay with a fine one on one save just moments later.
We continued to look more likely to make the breakthrough and it almost came when Brittain met Oduor’s deep cross, but his stinging volley fizzed agonisingly wide of the far upright.
Shortly after, Frieser whipped a fine ball into the box that Helik flicked towards goal and the stretching Adeboyejo just couldn’t turn it home at the back post.
Styles was next to try his luck, this time with a rasping drive from distance, but, once more, it flashed just wide of target as the Reds endured a frustrating afternoon.
Despite not being able to pick up all three points, it was a positive performance and a platform to build on ahead of a trip to Blackpool next weekend.
FULL-TIME: Barnsley 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
Collins, Halme, Helik, Moon, Sibbick (Hondermarck), Brittain, Gomes (Adeboyejo), Styles, Oduor, Woodrow, Leya Iseka (Frieser).
Unused: Walton, Sraha, Vita, Cole.
