Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty Five: Barnsley v Leicester City - Barnsley FC

Bobby Hassell is still absent as he recovers from his minor knee operation. The full back is due back in the next 10 to 14 days. Despite intense speculation regarding strikers David Healy and Jason Scotland, there is likely to be no new additions before the Foxes arrival. Iain Hume is pushing for a start against the side Barnsley paid £1.2m to for him after two impressive substitute cameos.

Likely Lineup:

Luke Steele

Carl Dickinson

Darren Moore

Stephen Foster

Ryan Shotton

Adam Hammill

Hugo Colace

Nathan Doyle

Emil Hallfredsson

Jon Macken/ Iain Hume

Daniel Bogdanovic

Head To Head

Barnsley have a horrendous recent record against Leicester, having lost the last seven meetings without scoring a single goal. Indeed they haven’t beaten the Foxes since the 1993-1994 season when they won 1-0 at Filbert Street in March 1994 thanks to a goal from Reds striking legend Andy Payton.

The two recent home meetings have been pivotal relegation encounters, and the Foxes have pinched 1-0 wins both times. In April 2007, Leicester were 19^th in the Championship, and Barnsley 20^th. An own goal by Neil Austin saw the points head back to the Midlands. The win ensured Leicester’s survival whilst Leeds draw with Ipswich on the same day and subsequent points deduction ensured The Reds didn’t suffer an immediate relegation back to League One. Almost exactly one year later both sides were again stuck in the mire with Barnsley 17^th and Leicester 22^nd. A late close range finish from a certain Iain Hume saw Leicester again snatch a 1-0 victory but this time, whereas The Reds survived relegation by beating Charlton 3-0 in their next game, Leicester were defeated at home to Sheffield Wednesday and drew at Stoke in their remaining two games and were relegated from English football’s second tier for the first time in their history.

This though could be seen as revenge as it was the Foxes who ended Barnsley’s one and only season in the Premier League. A 2-0 defeat at Filbert Street in May 1998 confirmed relegation back to Division One.

Tomorrow night Barnsley go searching for their first Oakwell victory over Leicester since September 1991, and the Foxes have won 18 of the 50 Oakwell meetings compared with Barnsley’s 15. The previous meeting this season saw Leicester claim a fourth 1-0 win in the last six meetings.

Barnsley 0-1 Leicester Match Report 19/4/08

Barnsley 0-1 Leicester Match Report 28/4/07

Last six Barnsley v Leicester results:

22/8/09 Leicester 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)

19/4/08 Barnsley 0-1 Leicester (Championship)

27/10/07 Leicester 2-0 Barnsley (Championship)

28/4/07 Barnsley 0-1 Leicester (Championship)

16/12/06 Leicester 2-0 Barnsley (Championship)

2/5/98 Leicester 2-0 Barnsley (Premier League)

Overall Record:

Barnsley Wins: 23

Leicester Wins: 48

Draws: 31

Barnsley Goals: 106

Leicester Goals: 156

At Oakwell:

Barnsley Wins: 15

Leicester Wins: 18

Draws: 17

Barnsley Goals: 65

Leicester Goals: 63

This Season

Leicester got over the shock of playing in English football’s third tier for the first time ever by storming to the League One title and then making a promotion push back in the Championship this season. In 2008-2009 they amassed 96 points- the most in the league since Luton won the title with 98 in 2004-2005 and they lost just once at home. The Foxes have carried that form onto in the Championship and with just over half of the season gone they sit in eighth position, just one point off the play-offs and have lost just one of their last five matches.

Barnsley couldn’t have wished for a worst start to 2010, having lost all three games this year. Last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday was only the second Oakwell defeat in the league under manager Mark Robins and they haven’t lost back to back home games since August.

Overall playing record for 26th January:

Barnsley have a pretty decent 26^th January record having won five of their 10 matches played on this date losing just three. Their last encounter on this date was the FA Cup Fourth Round tie at Southend in 2008 when a screamer from Jamal Campbell-Ryce booked that dream Fifth Round trip to Anfield. Tomorrow will be only the third time The Reds have played at home on this date, with the most recent coming way back in 1964 when they beat Bury 2-1 in the FA Cup.

Barnsley: Played 10, Won 5, Drawn 2, Lost 3, Scored 17, Conceded 20.

Leicester also have an impressive record on the 26^th January having won seven of their 12 games played. They did lose the most recent however, 1-0 at West Brom in the FA Cup in 2002.

Leicester: Played 12, Won 7, Drawn 2, Lost 3, Scored 16, Conceded 13.

Last six 2009-2010 Results

23/1/10 Cardiff 4-2 Leicester (FA Cup)

16/1/10 Swansea 1-0 Leicester (Championship)

10/1/10 Leicester 1-1 Ipswich (Championship)

2/1/10 Leicester 2-1 Swansea (FA Cup)

26/12/09 Leicester 2-1 Sheffield United (Championship)

12/12/09 Leicester 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday (Championship)

W:3 D:1 L:2 F:10 A:8 GD:2 Points: 10

Barnsley:

16/1/10 Barnsley 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday (Championship)

9/1/10 Coventry 3-1 Barnsley (Championship)