Looking ahead to Barnsley`s February fixtures with Tykes Blog

Barnsley head into February currently occupying 6th place in League One with games in hand on most sides around them. We look at the next six fixtures in a packed February schedule for the Reds.

The noticeable feature with the forthcoming games is the amount of travelling the club and its supporters will have to endure throughout February. A midweek away trip to Oxford United followed three days later with a long drive to the South Coast and Portsmouth. Later in the month the reds visit Gloucestershire and Michael Duff`s old side Cheltenham Town. The month finishes with a tough home game against in-form Derby County.

January wasn't the best of months for Barnsley with heavy defeats at home to Bolton, away in the FA Cup at Derby County and a loss at Charlton which served up no goals for the Oakwell faithful to cheer. It wasn't all doom and gloom though with an all round performance in the 3-1 home win over Accrington Stanley.

Oxford United (A)

The Reds travel to Oxford United on Wednesday in a rearranged game after the original fixture was called off due to a frozen pitch.

Oxford sit comfortably mid table in 12th position suffering mixed fortunes results wise recently. A 2-1 home win over promotion favourites Ipswich Town was sandwiched in between recent losses to Wycombe and Exeter.

This game sees the return of Herbie Kane to the Manor Ground after his loan last season. We asked Oxford fan, Jack Shoemark his thoughts on Kane:

“A good player for us, but I’m not sure any one was too desperate for him to come back in the summer given how his form drifted away.”

The Reds last victory at Oxford was a 1-0 win in November 1991.

Portsmouth (A)

Michael Duff and his players intend to stay down in the south after the Oxford game to prepare for Portsmouth on the following Saturday.

Pompey sit six points behind the reds in League One after sacking Danny Cowley as first team manager. In came John Mousinho who won his first two games against Exeter and Fleetwood.

Fratton Park is another away ground where Barnsley have struggled for victories. The Reds won only once in 21 games since 1980.

Cambridge (H)

Barnsley finally play in front of their own fans at Oakwell on Saturday 11th February when Cambridge come to town. The U`s have struggled since September picking up just two victories in 16 games leaving them in the relegation zone.

Cambridge come to Oakwell with the poorest away form of anyone in the division with the fewest away points gained of any side. After two tough away games, this fixture represents a good chance for Barnsley to secure all three points.

Port Vale (A)

Another midweek fixture for the Reds as they travel to the Potteries on Valentines Day. Barnsley have not fared well against the The Valiants this season drawing 1-1 at Oakwell in the league and losing 1-2 at Vale Park in the Papa Johns Trophy back in November.

Ex Barnsley manager, David Flitcroft is currently Port Vale director of football who sit comfortably in mid-table after promotion from League Two last season.

Cheltenham Town (A)

Michael Duff makes his return to his hometown of Gloucestershire and The Completely-Suzuki Stadium on Saturday 18th February. Duff`s first victory as Barnsley manager came at home to Cheltenham in a narrow 1-0 victory.

Duff shares his time between Yorkshire and his family returning home twice a week, on a Saturday and Tuesday.

The Robins are 18th in League One and managing to avoid a relegation dogfight on limited resources much to the credit of manager Wade Elliott. No doubt The Robins will be up for this game and hoping to put one over their old manager.

Derby County (H)

February concludes with a home game against in-form Derby County. The Reds will hope to fare better than in the reverse fixture in August when Derby came out winners 2-1. In January, both sides met in the 3rd round of the FA Cup with the Rams progressing after a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Manager Paul Warne has been a hit at Pride Park so far and you wouldn't put it past his side to catch one of the sides currently sitting in an automatic promotion spot.

Summary

After two tough away games at Oxford and Portsmouth, Barnsley have a three match run which looks more straight forward on paper with games against Cambridge, Port Vale and Cheltenham. Then the month finishes with a top six clash at home to Derby.

Hopefully the blip in January is over and Barnsley can start another consistent run like in November and December that won Michael Duff two manager of the month awards.