Since the Blades earned a 2-2 draw at Oakwell on 9 November 2009 the Tykes - under manager Mark Robins have stuttered their way up the table and like tomorrow's opponents face stiff competition at a late stage of the season to creep into the play-offs with the chance of gaining promotion to the Premier League.
The draw against the S2 side formed part of the Reds eight match unbeaten run which took the mining Town from 20th in the table up to 15th and away from the dreaded drop zone. Their run consisted of four victories, but (including an FA Cup defeat) was swiftly followed by a three match defeats against Scunthorpe United (0-1), Coventry City (1-3) and Sheffield Wednesday (1-2).
Incidentally it was the first time the Tykes had moved into the top half of the Championship for almost a decade when in 1999/00 season they were beaten play-off finalists. They have since then
dropped into League One and if the past three campaigns have battled against relegation only to escape virtually on the final day's fixture.
Consistency has been the Reds nemesis this season and a 6-1 defeat at Newcastle United on 6 March which stands out (having won 4-1 at Preston at month earlier); it was a nightmare game which saw keeper Luke Steele sent off and substitute shot stopper David Preece concede six goals.
The Tykes come into this fixture on back three match losing streak prior to their long visit to Plymouth Argyle last Tuesday. Defeats against Ipswich Town (0-1), Bristol City (3-5) and Doncaster Rovers (0-1) dented a late play-off dash.
Their fixture with the Pilgrims came at a long wait after this game was originally played in late November with the Reds leading 4-1 - but on the hour mark the game was abandoned due to adverse weather conditions only for the game to full of miss chances by the Reds as they drew 0-0.
Reds boss Mark Robins could be without former Blades full-back Robert Kozluk (knee) and on-loan Stoke City defender Carl Dickinson (knee) through injury; youngster Luke Potter and Icelandic midfielder Emil Hallfredsson are both likely to take their places.
They will also be without striker Daniel Bogdanovic (hamstring) due to injury - the Maltese international is the clubs leading goal scorer with fourteen goals and is unlikely feature at Bramall Lane; Iain Hume or Jonathan Macken could take his place. Meanwhile full-back Ryan Shotton will miss the game due to suspension.
Duo Robert Kozluk and Andy Gray could both be handed a place in the Colliers eighteen man squad to face their former club Sheffield United tomorrow afternoon.
Kozluk played eight years at Bramall Lane after signing from Derby County in March 1999. He came has part of a swap + cash deal involving Jonathan Hunt and Vassilis Borbokis - making his debut in a 3-2 win at Tranmere Rovers.
He was part of the squad that won promotion to the Premier League during the 2005/06 campaign and made a total of 215 (+21) appearances and netted twice for the Red and White Wizards before being handed a free transfer to Oakwell when he was released in July 2007.
Meanwhile Gray was snapped up from Bradford City in February 2004 and netted on his debut in a 2-1 reverse at Reading - he went onto play 63 (+2) games for United and netted 28 goals before being sold to Sunderland in August 2005.
Tykes Last Line-Up (30/03/2010 at Plymouth Argyle): 01.
Luke Steele, 04. Darren Moore, 06. Stephen Foster, 22. Luke Potter, 30. Ryan Shotton, 05. Hugo Roberto Colace, 14. Emil Hallfredsson, 25. Adam Hammill, 39. Nathan Doyle, 10. Daniel Bogdanovic, 21. Jonathan Macken. Substitutes: 07. Iain Hume, 12. David Preece, 15. Franca Anderson Silva, 19. Jacob Butterfield, 23 Mounir El Haimour, 27. Andy Gray, 45. O'Neil Thompson.
Possible Tykes Line-Up:
| steele | | |
hassell | foster | moore | potter |
anderson | colace | hallfredson | hammill |
| gray | macken | |
Blades-Mad Prediction: Sheffield United 2-0 Barnsley
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:: Statistics ::
For Head to Head statistics please click here.
Last 10 Games... Home & Away
Season | Date | Home | Score | Away | Competition |
2009/2010 | Mon 09 Nov | Barnsley | Sheff Utd. | Championship | |
2008/2009 | Tue 07 Apr | Sheff. Utd. | Barnsley | Championship | |
| Sat 08 Nov | Barnsley | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
2007/2008 | Sat 22 Mar | Barnsley | Sheff. Utd. | Championship | |
| Sat 15 Dec | Sheff. Utd. | Barnsley | Championship | |
2001/2002 | Sat 09 Mar | Barnsley | Sheff. Utd. | League Division One | |
| Fri 14 Dec | Sheff. Utd. | Barnsley | League Division One | |
2000/2001 | Sat 07 Apr | Sheff. Utd. | 1 - 2 | Barnsley | League Division One |
| Sat 09 Dec | Barnsley | 0 - 0 | Sheff. Utd. | League Division One |
1999/2000 | Tue 07 Mar | Sheff. Utd. | 3 - 3 | Barnsley | League Division One |
Head to Head Statistics... | Goals | |||||
Venue | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against |
Home | 29 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 52 | 28 |
Away | 29 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 42 | 35 |
Total | 58 | 25 | 19 | 14 | 94 | 63 |
* Statistics correct up to and including 01/08/2009
With thanks to Rob Miles (www.tykes-mad.co.uk) for assisting in this preview.