Next Up: Exeter City vs Barnsley
City’s narrow 2-1 defeat at high-flying Bolton, coupled with improved form from some of the sides at the foot of the table, saw Gary Caldwell’s side drop into the bottom four for the first time last Saturday. City’s difficult run continues on Saturday against another side hoping to go back up to the second tier, albeit a side that City have had a good record against in recent seasons. Josh Magennis went off injured at Bolton to temper the return to action of Sonny Cox, and it remains to be seen whether this was more a temporary precaution rather than something more serious. On the positive side, however, Reece Cole returned to the squad after yet another niggling injury saw him miss the last few games, while Tuesday night’s U21 cup defeat to West Brom saw Bolton loanee Carlos Mendes Gomes get some game time as he looks to add to his solitary appearance off the bench in City colours so far. Elsewhere City’s defensive options will be boosted by the return from suspension of Jack Fitzwater.
Barnsley, now in their fourth season in the third tier following relegation from the Championship, have had something of an up and down first half of the season so far and the Tykes currently sit in 8th place in the table. Having trimmed the squad somewhat, Conor Hourihane has used just 20 players so far, two of whom have made a single appearance (City, by comparison, have used 27). There have been some eye-catching results, most notably a 5-0 hammering of Luton, tempered with results such as a 5-0 reverse to Port Vale in the EFL Trophy a couple of weeks ago. Barnsley go into the last fixture before Christmas on the back of a 3-2 win against Leyton Orient. Davis Keillor-Dunn, who has amassed vast experience with the like of Oldham, Burton and Mansfield, has been their standout player so far with 13 goals (ten in the league) including strikes in both of Barnsley’s last two matches.
In the three seasons since the sides converged for the first time since 1980/81, this fixture has become something of an “away banker” with away wins in five of the six matches, the only exception being City’s 3-1 win at SJP in March 2023. Last season both matches finished 2-1 to the victors – the corresponding fixture almost exactly a year ago saw City lead 1-0 at half-time through a deflected Magennis free kick, but tension was clearly on display at the break and this showed with a capitulation in the second half, goals from Nwakali and Keillor-Dunn clinching the win. Revenge was sweet at Oakwell in April – Ryan Trevitt again gave City the lead in the first half. Stephen Humphrys equalised in the second half but this time Magennis scored the winner. This extended City’s league head to head lead to 13-9, with four matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game are:-
Referee: Ben Atkinson
Assistant Referees: Adam Ricketts and Daniel Robinson
Fourth Official: Sam Mulhall
We last saw Ben Atkinson in August when City won 1-0 away at Wycombe. So far this season Ben has taken charge of 15 games, showing 72 yellow cards and sent off two players.
Interview with Gary Caldwell
Interview with Jack Aitchison