Fresh off a morale-boosting win, Joey Barton's Bristol Rovers are preparing to face high-flying Barnsley at the Mem in League One on Saturday, and a couple of familiar faces are set to feature for the Tykes.
Bobby Thomas and Luke Thomas will be in Michael Duff's squad after featuring for the Gas in the past 12 months. The former was part of Rovers' defence for the first half of the season before cutting his loan from Burnley short to join Barnsley, while Thomas was on loan from Oakwell last season and played a significant role in Rovers' promotion triumph.
Rovers, of course, know plenty about them, but Barnsley as a whole will pose a big challenge. The Tykes have won four straight games, including a win over promotion rivals Derby County last time out, and they have moved into automatic promotion contention as a result.
They are sixth in the table, nine points off second-placed Plymouth Argyle with two games in hand.
To get an insight on Saturday's opponents and the form of their former players, Bristol Live spoke to Doug O'Kane, the sports editor at the Barnsley Chronicle, about Michael Duff's side. You can follow Doug on Twitter here.
Barnsley are in fantastic form. What has underpinned their surge into promotion contention?
Clearly, the appointment of Michael Duff has been an excellent one. After an up-and-down first few months with a new and young team which was still gelling and adapting to his ideas, they have won 12 of 16 league games since October. Their defence has been good all season but they are starting to find the scoring touch they sometimes lacked in autumn, with their 16 goals across the last six games the most in the top four leagues. They have a settled team, many of whom are capable of Championship careers, and a real unity, belief and momentum which could create something special this season.
Bobby Thomas was a Bristol Rovers player for the first half of this season. How has he performed for Barnsley?
He’s been very good – barely putting a foot wrong on the right of an impressive back three and chipping in with a goal and two assists so far. They needed to act quickly after Robbie Cundy picked up an injury and brought in Duff’s former Burnley youth player. He was involved in a mix-up for Derby’s goal on Saturday but generally has been a successful signing.
Luke Thomas was a promotion-winner with Rovers last season and Gasheads were gutted when he broke his leg. How has he bounced back from that and what does his future at Oakwell look like?
He’s come off the bench twice against his old clubs Cheltenham and Derby since his return so is set to make it a hat-trick at Rovers. He has brought the energy, pressing ability and direct running with the pace we saw before the injury and also scored on Saturday due to a big goalkeeping error. He is likely to be mainly an impact substitute for now as the Reds start games in a 3-5-2, which isn’t his natural system as a winger. He is out of contract in the summer but Duff is on record saying he wants to offer him a new deal, which his performances certainly deserve.
What style of play can Rovers fans expect to see from Barnsley this weekend and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
They generally get the ball forward pretty quickly but can also put together excellent team moves to slice open the opponents. Out of possession, they tend to press very hard and not let opponents have time on the ball. They have strengths all over the pitch – an excellent midfield three which tends to dictate the game, a very solid back three, two attacking wing-backs and a strikers’ department which is starting to fire after a slow start.
It is difficult to highlight a weakness given their form but they have not come from behind to win this season, only taking two points when conceding first.
What XI is Michael Duff likely to select and does he have any injuries or suspensions to contend with?
3-5-2: Harry Isted; Bobby Thomas, Mads Andersen, Liam Kitching; Jordan Williams, Adam Phillips, Luca Connell, Herbie Kane, Nicky Cadden; James Norwood, Devante Cole.
Max Watters is back from suspension so is likely to be on the bench. The striker is one of six loanees so one will have to drop out of the squad if he returns.
Robbie Cundy, Josh Benson and Brad Collins are all getting closer to returns from injuries but this game may come too soon for them all.
Finally, your prediction?
I will say 3-1 to Barnsley. I just think the Reds are on a real roll at the moment and, if they play as they have done recently, will be very hard to stop.
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