This Week's Opposition: Barnsley

It’s back on the road for the Blues again after Saturday’s victory at Cambridge. Oakwell is the midweek destination for John Mousinho’s side, who are now unbeaten in 5.

Colby Bishop’s second-half header was the difference between Pompey and Cambridge at the Abbey Stadium at the weekend, as the Blues made it 3 straight league victories.

Barnsley await them for their next challenge for a match that had originally been pencilled in the schedule for the start of September.

MANAGER

The Tykes are playing under the guidance of former Cheltenham boss Michael Duff, who took to the helm of the South Yorkshire outfit last June, signing a 3 year deal with the club.

Duff had spent just shy of 4 years at Cheltenham, whom he guided to promotion from League Two and into the 3rd tier in April 2021 - That was the club’s first ever automatic promotion success in the Football League.

The now-45-year-old’s efforts with The Robins hadn’t gone unnoticed, poached by Barnsley just over 12 months after the promotion success.

Since arriving at Oakwell, Duff has overseen 23 wins from 41 competitive games in charge.

ONE TO WATCH

Barnsley’s number 30, Adam Phillips has been labelled as our one to watch on this occasion.

Phillips joined the club for an undisclosed fee from Accrington Stanley back in September and has since represented The Tykes 21 times, scoring 6 goals.

The 25-year-old plays predominantly in midfield but has had more success in front of goal lately, scoring 3 in his last 4 appearances.

TOP SCORER

With 10 goals under his belt across both league and cup this season, 27-year-old forward Devante Cole is currently Barnsley’s top scorer.

The former Manchester City youngster, son of former Pompey striker Andy Cole, has found the back of the net on 9 occasions in the league, securing that sole other goal in a 3-0 FA Cup victory over Crewe Alexandra back in November.

Cole has only scored 2 goals in his last 13 outings, however both of those came in the same game, a 4-1 win at home to Derby County just 2 matches ago.

CURRENT FORM

Michael Duff’s side have enjoyed success in recent games, in fact they’re unbeaten in their last 8 league outings.

The Tykes last tasted defeat on the 14th of January, that was by a scoreline of 2 goals to nil away at Charlton.

Prior to Saturday’s goalless draw at Bristol Rovers, Barnsley had won 4 on the bounce, scoring 13 goals in the process.

Recent results include a 4-0 win away at Cheltenham and a 4-1 victory on home soil against Derby County - These such victories have ensured the side remain 6th in League One, the same position they occupied when they travelled down to Fratton Park for this season’s reverse fixture just last month.

The Blues could edge even closer to the Play-Off positions with what would be a massive win over The Tykes, whereas defeat could see them as much as 12 points behind that top 6.

Which way will this one swing?

You can catch all of the unmissable action on Pompey Live with Robbie James and Jake Smith, this Tuesday evening (March 7th) from 7pm - (19:45 kick-off at Oakwell).