Barnsley visit Mansfield

The Reds come into the game off the back of three home games in a row which yielded a loss, a win and a draw. 

Inconsistency has plagued Barnsley all season and it seems they are on the cusp of putting a few results together before then a poor performance comes. 

The draw midweek against Cardiff was a good result, showing that the Reds can compete against one of the best sides in the division. 

There was also tactical flexibility shown by Hourihane on several fronts, as he abandoned his possession-based approach in favour of a more counter-attacking one which worked well. 

He also changed Barnsley’s press after 20 minutes, which stopped early Cardiff dominance and allowed the Reds to get themselves back in contest, even rattling the Bluebirds at times. 

There has also been recent speculation online that 38-year-old David McGoldrick could be called up to the Ireland squad for their upcoming World Cup play-off against Czechia. 

Barnsley head coach Conor Hourihane said: “I’ve not heard anything officially to say it’s happening or not. I have seen a few things said by certain people. 

“I know Ireland have injuries at the top end of the pitch. He’s a man in form and you never know.  

“What he could bring to that group is experience of the big games and goals that he’s scored over the course of his career. 

“For him to potentially be involved in a play-off campaign to go to the World Cup at his age would be pretty special. Let’s just see if it happens first.” 

In terms of injury news, Hourihane said that Patrick Kelly could return to Barnsley’s squad for their trip to Mansfield Town on Saturday. 

The 21-year-old has missed the last three matches with a calf injury. 

Moving on to the opposition, Mansfield sit 15th in League One, with 11 wins, 11 draws and 12 losses in 34 games. 

The Stags have had a very streaky season, starting off the season with back-to back losses in the league before then winning four games in a row in all competitions. 

A period of six matches without a win in all competitions followed, before then a run of eight games unbeaten in all competitions came after that. 

Then came a period of eight games with no victories, before a Boxing Day win at Oakwell kickstarted a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions. 

But the final four games of that run were all draws, which fed into a run of just one win in 11. 

The Stags then beat Reading at home on Tuesday 1-0, which may suggest they could go on another run. 

Near enough a year ago to the day of the upcoming fixture, Conor Hourihane was in the opposition dugout at the One Call Stadium taking charge of his first game as interim Barnsley head coach, where he would later get the job permanently. 

The Reds lost the game, and Hourihane will go up against the experienced Nigel Clough once again, who has managed over 1,500 games in his career. 

Mansfield have former Barnsley players Liam Roberts, Rhys Oates and Victor Adeboyejo. 

The Stags also have Reds loanee Jon Russell who cannot play on Saturday. 

The two clubs have faced off 38 times, with Barnsley winning 14 and losing 13.