All you need to know ahead of Portsmouth clash
All you need to know ahead of Portsmouth clash
Fifth placed Barnsley host sixth placed Portsmouth in the League One encounter at Oakwell on Tuesday night.
We take a look at the recent form of both sides, previous head to head statistics, listen to what both managers have to say and look at the match officials in this preview.
Form Guide
The Tykes go into the game on the back of four 2-0 victories. The first of those wins being away at Wigan Athletic followed by an away win at Cheltenham Town. On Saturday, Barnsley comfortably beat Burton Albion with two goals from Devante Cole which took the striker’s goal tally to 8 goals and a shot accuracy of 92%. Sandwiched in between those league games was the win over Grimsby Town in the Football League Trophy.
Pompey are unbeaten in the league so far this season winning three and drawing four games including last time out at the weekend in a 1-1 draw at Derby County. After winning two of their first three games, Pompey have stalled somewhat drawing three out of four with two of those games being goalless stalemates. The visitors top goalscorer is Colby Bishop with four goals in seven games.
Head to Head
In the last 15 games played between the two sides at Oakwell going back to 1991, Barnsley have won 11 times drawing 3 times and only losing once. Last time out, Barnsley beat Portsmouth 3-1 in March 2023 with goals from James Norwood, Nicky Cadden and Devante Cole. Colby Bishop scored the visitors’ consolation that day.
What Neill Collins had to say about the game
“They’re a very, very difficult team to beat. We all like to win games, but if you can’t win, don’t lose and they’ve managed to do that, even on Saturday scoring a late goal at Derby. The game could go either way. It’s a great test for us. We want to make it a really good test for them and we`re looking forward to the game.”
Pompey team news
21 year old forward Christian Saydee could return but as a substitute after picking up a slight knock that kept him out of the Derby game. Manager John Mousinho claimed his squad has a clean bill of health with Joe Rafferty back in the reckoning after serving a 3 match ban. Midfielder Joe Morrell is back after serving a one match ban.
Match Officials
The man in charge on Tuesday night is Lewis Smith. Smith has officiated 45 games over the last 12 months. The last time he officiated a Tykes game was the 2-1 defeat at Port Vale in the EFL trophy second round.
The assistant referees are Callum Jones and Stephen Wade.
The fourth official is Daniel Middleton.
