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Oakwell has not been the happiest of grounds for us. Winning there is something that not too many Burnley fans will remember. We have to go back to 1932 for our last win. That was in April 1932 and a 1-0 win courtesy of a John Hall goal in the first minute of the second half.
After the draw at home to Doncaster it would be a real boost to get our fourth away win of the season, that would ensure we would climb back to fourth in the table even if it was only for 24 hours.
Barnsley had a strange sort of season in 2007/08. A constant struggle against relegation saw them end the season in 18th place and it was a 3-0 win against Charlton in the last home match that ensured they wouldn't go down.
But it was in the FA Cup where they grabbed the headlines with wins against Liverpool (when former Claret Stephen Foster scored) and Chelsea taking them to the semi-finals. There they were beaten by Cardiff as the media wheeled out Michael Parkinson (believed to be a season ticket holder at Reading) and DIckie Bird.
That cup run saw them field Luke Steele in goal on loan from West Brom and in the end they had to agree to sign him in the summer to extend the loan so they would have a keeper for that semi-final.
Steele became one of five new players in the summer. He was followed by Iain Hume, and of course he won't be playing tonight following that awful injury he sustained recently against Sheffield United and in particularly their former Barnsley defender Chris Morgan.
They also signed Big Dave (Darren Moore) from Derby whilst manager Simon Davey extended his tour of the world to bring in two more players from outside England, Argentinian Hugo Colace from Newell's Old Boys and Mounir El Hamour from Neuchatel Zamax.
Barnsley also have two loan players currently at the club and both from Lancashire clubs. They are Marceo Rigters from Blackburn and Preston's Simon Whaley.
After a disappointing start to the season their recent form has been good with four wins in the last seven games, and they have remained unbeaten at home since mid-September.
Barnsley were one of my favourites for relegation before the start of the season, a view that upset a couple of Barnsley fans when it appeared in the Observer newspaper. Their current position suggests I was wrong.
Barnsley played three strikers at Preston on Saturday but manager Simon Davey is expected to revert to a more orthodox 4-4-2 system with Peruvian missing out.
Now under the captaincy of former Claret Stephen Foster they are expected to line up: Heinz Muller, Bobby Hassell, Stephen Foster, Dennis Souza, Rob Kozluk, Martin Devaney, Diego Leon, Hugo Colace, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jon Macken, Kayode Odejayi. Subs: Mounir El Hamour, Miguel Mostto, Michael Coulson, Marciano Van Homoet, Marceo Rigters
Burnley are forced into one change and will almost certainly have to make two. Steven Thompson sits this one out suspended whilst Wade Elliott isn't expected to make it after picking up a groin injury on Saturday. Playing without Wade is not a common occurrence, the last time he didn't feature was in that awful 0-0 draw at home to Luton in the last match of the nineteen game run without a win.
If Elliott doesn't make it we could revert to playing with Graham Alexander in a midfield role, if so we could line up as follows:
Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Chris Eagles, Joey Gudjonsson, Chris McCann, Robbie Blake, Martin Paterson. Subs: Diego Penny, Kevin McDonald, Alan Mahon, Ade Akinbiyi, Jay Rodriguez.
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Our goal was in some ways a fortunate one. Ade Akinbiyi, in for the injured Robbie Blake, played the ball for Andy Gray who in turn got it out wide for Wade Elliott. Wade's cross was met by Barnsley defender Lewin Nyatanga who could do no more than hit it against Gray and it cannoned off him and in.
We were in sensational form and it was difficult to pick out the star of the show as the midfield four of Elliott, John Spicer, Chris McCann and Alan Mahon simply ran the show as the Clarets passed and moved the ball leaving Barnsley chasing shadows.
Unfortunately the second half wasn't anything like as good as the first half and when a Nyatanga header from a corner came back off the bar Miguel Mossto scored the equaliser.
Once more we'd had to settle for less than we deserved at Oakwell and it is very much time that things changed.
The teams were;
Barnsley: Heinz Muller, Stephen Foster, Lewin Nyatanga, Dennis Souza, Dominik Werling, Martin Devaney, Brian Howard, Grant McCann, Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Rohan Ricketts 84), Miguel Mostto, Kayode Odejayi. Subs not used: Nick Colgan, Rob Kozluk, Sam Togwell, Michael Coulson.
Burnley: Gabor Kiraly, Graham Alexander, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, John Spicer, Chris McCann, Alan Mahon (Kyle Lafferty 69), Ade Akinbiyi (Steve Jones 85), Andy Gray. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, David Unsworth, James O'Connor.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1994/95 | 1 | h | 0-1 | 11,968 | . |
| . | . | a | 0-2 | 5,537 | . |
2000/01 | 1 | a | 0-1 | 18,725 | . |
| . | . | h | 2-1 | 15,380 | Johnrose Payton |
2001/02 | 1 | h | 3-3 | 14,690 | Morgan(og) Briscoe Payton(pen) |
| . | . | a | 1-1 | 14,411 | Taylor |
2005/06 | LC | h | 3-0 | 4,501 | Lowe Akinbiyi Spicer |
2006/07 | C | h | 4-2 | 10,304 | Harley Noel-Williams(3) |
| . | . | a | 0-1 | 12,842 | . |
2007/08 | C | a | 1-1 | 11,560 | Gray |
| . | . | h | 2-1 | 11,915 | Elliott Lafferty |