Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty One: Crystal Palace v Barnsley

Team News

Reds boss Mark Robins has the luxury of a fully fit squad to choose from after Stephen Foster recovered from his eye wound suffered against Scunthorpe. Foster could replace Darren Moore but its likely Robins will stick with the same side that did so well against league leaders Newcastle. Midfielder/full back Nathan Doyle plays his last game of his loan spell, with rumours a £250,000 permanent deal could be in the pipeline in January.

Likely Lineup:

Luke Steele

Carl Dickinson

Darren Moore

Ryan Shotton

Bobby Hassell

Anderson De Silva

Nathan Doyle

Hugo Colace

Emil Hallfredsson

Andy Gray

Daniel Bogdanovic

Head To Head

Selhurst Park has certainly not been a happy hunting ground for Barnsley in recent times, despite the fact Palace have won only one more meeting on their own soil than The Reds. Barnsley haven’t even SCORED in any of their past five visits, dating back nearly 10 years and on the previous two occasions they have found the net in South London, they have pocked the points.

The last success there came way back in February 2000 when a strike from Bruce Dyer and a penalty from Darren Barnard in the opening 15 minutes sealed a 2-0 win. They also met in the sides Premier League meeting. A fantastic effort from Neil Redfearn earning a 1-0 win in the second game of the season.

Unfortunately they are just brief highlights. In between those two wins, the Reds lost 1-0 at the home of the Eagles in February 1999 and since the 2-0 victory, they have come away losing 1-0, 1-0, 2-0, 2-0, 3-0. The latter one was particularly disappointing as it came live on SKY in October 2008. A truly awful performance capped a thumping defeat. Barnsley have had better success at home and are unbeaten against the Eagles at Oakwell since returning to the Championship in 2006, winning 2-0, drawing 0-0 and last season winning 3-1.

Barnsley 3-1 Crystal Palace 17/3/09 Match Report

Crystal Palace 3-0 Barnsley 18/10/08 Match Report

Barnsley 0-0 Crystal Palace 8/12/07 Match Report

Barnsley 2-0 Crystal Palace 21/4/07 Match Report

Overall Record:

Crystal Palace Wins: 20

Barnsley Wins: 24

Draws: 8

Crystal Palace Goals: 67

Barnsley Goals: 72

At Crystal Palace (four matches at the Crystal Palace, 22, matches at Selhurst Park):

Crystal Palace Wins: 12

Barnsley Wins: 11

Draws: 3

Crystal Palace Goals: 31

Barnsley Goals: 26

This Season

It looks like being another inconsistent season for a club who dream of returning to the Premier League, which they last graced in 2005. They finished 14^th in the Championship last season after losing just one short of half their league games- 22- which was two more than Barnsley who only survived relegation on the final day. And they currently sit in the same position today with a typical record of seven wins, eight draws and six defeats. They recently were on the cusp of the play-offs after going unbeaten for six games, but they have lost two of their last three, including a 2-0 reverse at manager Neil Warnock’s old club Sheffield United last weekend. They do however boast the division’s joint second highest scorer. Midfielder Darren Ambrose has hit 11 goals this season, including nine in his last 11 appearances. He is though a doubt for today after coming down with a virus that has hampered the entire squad.

If Barnsley remain undefeated today it will be their best run for two years. They also went seven league games unbeaten in 2007 when Scunthorpe, Stoke, Southampton, Cardiff, Bristol City, Charlton and Burnley failed to beat them. In that run, there were three wins and four draws. In the current six game run they have won three and drawn three with Scunthorpe and Cardiff included in it again.

Last six 2009-2010 Results

Crystal Palace:

12/12/09 Sheffield United 2-0 Crystal Palace (Championship)

8/12/09 Reading 2-4 Crystal Palace (Championship)

5/12/09 Crystal Palace 0-3 Doncaster (Championship)

28/11/09 Crystal Palace 3-0 Watford (Championship)

21/11/09 Coventry 1-1 Crystal Palace (Championship)

7/11/09 Crystal Palace 1-0 Middlesbrough (Championship)

W: 3 D: 1 L: 2 F: 9 A: 8 GD: 1 Points: 10

Barnsley:

12/12/09 Barnsley 2-2 Newcastle (Championship)

9/12/09 Barnsley 1-1 Scunthorpe (Championship)