Who Are Ya? Barnsley F.C.

...I was present for the three fixtures against; Sheffield Wednesday (at Hillsborough, won 1-0) as well as home games against Charlton Athletic (drew 0-0) and Queens Park Rangers (won 2-1) where Barnsley picked up a reasonable seven points from a possible nine.

:: In Defence ::

At the back, they looked pretty tight with Stephen Foster as club captain; they have finally placed Bobby Hassell in his natural right full-back position whilst Robert Kozluk (former Blade) deputised for the absent Marciano van Homoet on the left - Hassell has proven to be a tough tackler since he re-gained his position from midfield.

In the centre Darren Moore could prove to be a handful, but a strong target man (etc Darius Henderson) and a lightening speed attacker (Billy Sharp) would be enough to out wit and out pace the veteran defender. German keeper Heinz Muller is tall and strong and is capable of winning any aerial challenge; but like most continental shot stoppers has the awful habit of fisting the ball away, a good corner could lead to a goal from edge of the area.

:: In The Middle ::

Jamal Campbell-Ryce is likely to feature on the left hand side of midfield for the Tykes and can be a tricky customer on his day, he netted the only goal at Hillsborough where the Owls defence stood off him to allow the former Rotherham United winger to sweep round and fire past Lee Grant on the angle, a tough tackler (Stephen Quinn) would no doubt soon put him in his place.

On the other side of midfield is on loan Adam Hammill (from Liverpool) whom looks gifted and comfortable on the wing; he seems to lack the ability to deliver a good cross but is very skilful and has potential pace, he may be the undoing of Gary Naysmith; whilst in reserve Martin 'Disco' Devaney can be an excellent winger. In my mind he was the 'Man of the Match' for Town when they came unstuck at home to the Red and White Wizards last November.

However its in the middle where the Blades are likely to come unstuck; their number 5, Hugo Colace is a tough tackler and a great passer of the ball - he is likely to boss midfield when the two teams meet tomorrow night with the un-popular Anderson de Silva along side him; despite his critics the Tykes faithful has failed to find a centre-midfielder to take over from the former Everton man.

They sold Brian Howard (to Sheffield United) in January after a loan spell with the Bramall Lane club, whilst they filled the gap in his absence with Hassell who like Kyle Naughton struggled to find his feet in the middle of the park, before returning to his native full-back position.

:: Attack, Attack, Attack!!! ::

In attack the Reds have been boosted with the loan signing of former Sheffield United target Michael Mifsud; the Blades where rumoured to be interested in the Maltese international during the Premier League season of 2006/07 where nothing came of it; he eventually moved to Coventry City where he has recently become out-of-favour and could make his loan spell permanent at the end of the season - he is out of contact and wouldn't cost Barnsley a fee.

He has yet to find the back of the net (of the games I have seen) but Mifsud has proven to be a valuable player and are likely to find more goals if they found a proven goal poacher; they had Istvan Farenczi (now at Ferencvaros, Hungary) before allowing him to leave whilst their reserve striker Jon Macken (ex-Preston North End) just lacks the pace to creep up on-side behind the defence.

Mifsud has the pace and ability to out wit any defender; like Billy Sharp he isn't tall in stature but makes up with it for pace; like 'our Billy' (Billy Sharp) the Maltese forward will hang off his opponent and successfully beat them to the ball at a distance after the ball is played forward; he then uses his pace and skill to whip round and square the ball across the goal; he did this twice against Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic with no-one was on hand to provide the finish.

Follow Maltese international Daniel Bogdanovic is likely to play alongside the Sky Blues loanee; he is tall but admits he is no target man; though has a good head on the ball; his headed goal against Queens Park Rangers showed that when a quality cross comes along a goal looks on the cards when Bogdanovic attacks. However he isn't strong on the ball and may find it tough against experienced centre-halves in Chris Morgan and Matthew Kilgallon (or Leigh Bromby).

:: Overview ::

In all Barnsley boss Simon Davey has assembled a decent mid-table Championship outlet whom on there day can upset any of the top teams in this Division, with lack of funds available he may struggle to bring in quality players in the summer but despite the threat of relegation hanging over their shoulders I'm sure, with what I have witnessed that the South Yorkshire club will be in the Coca-Cola Championship for the 2009-10 seasons campaign.

But if Blades boss Kevin Blackwell is keen on making this their only 'Derby Double' this season then its crucial that they get it right; the Tykes have had the habit of bogging the ball down in centre of midfield; the wide pitch at Bramall Lane would prove a good ploy to allow their wingers to run riot; the pace and skill of David Cotterill would no doubt have a field day against Robert Kozluk or Marciano van Homoet who aren't the greatest defenders in the Championship.

On the left I would be very tempted to place Stephen Quinn (or Lee Hendrie) back in his former position; whilst Nick Montgomery will be useful against the quick thinking Hugo Colace.

* Please note that this article was written prior to the Blades 2-1 victory over Birmingham City on 1st March and therefore some aspects of the article may now be incorrect.