How many will make the short hop up the motorway to Oakwell for what is traditionally the best supported Rams away game?

Barnsley FC v Derby County
Coca Cola Championship
Oakwell, Barnsley
Saturday 10th April 2010 - 3:00pm

The Tykes:

Current League Position: 15/24

Leading Scorer: Daniel Bogdanovic 11lg 3cp

Manager: Mark Robins

Kit Home: Red shirt/White shorts

Kit Away: Black shirts/Gold shorts

Last game: Barnsley 2-2 Peterborough

Quotes from the manager:

Robins speaking after the game against Peterborough:

"We huffed and puffed, we created one or two chances and it was a great performance from (Luke) Steele at one end, and a good goal scoring performance from Hume at the other."

"We've got balls into the box, we created chances, but still the overriding emotion is one of relief - which isn't a great one - and knowing that we looked leggy."

Current Tykes Squad:

No. Position. Player.

1 Keeper Luke Steele
2 Defender Bobby Hassell
3 Defender Robert Kozluk
4 Defender Darren Moore
5 Midfield Hugo Colace
6 Midfield Stephen Foster (club captain)
7 Striker Iain Hume
8 Midfield Filipe Teixeira (on loan from West Brom) 10 Striker Daniel Bogdanovic
11 Midfield Martin Devaney
12 Keeper David Preece
14 Midfield Emil Hallfreðsson (on loan from Reggina)
15 Midfield Anderson Silva
17 Striker Jamil Adam
19 Midfield Jacob Butterfield
20 Striker Reuben Noble-Lazarus
21 Striker Jon Macken
22 Defender Luke Potter
23 Defender Mounir El Haimour
25 Midfield Adam Hammill
27 Striker Andy Gray
28 Keeper Tom Rusling
29 Defender Carl Dickinson (on loan from Stoke City) 30 Defender Ryan Shotton (on loan from Stoke City)
39 Midfield Nathan Doyle
45 Midfield O'Neil Thompson

The Rams:

Quotes from the manager:

Clough Speaking after being sent to the stand last Saturday:

"The referee asked me to repeat something. I did and I asked was he sending me off for that, and he wouldn't answer."

"I think it was for something he [Pearson] said as well as he was walking away but I don't think it was aimed at the referee."

"But we have missed a good opportunity to get another point or three on the board."

Current Rams Squad:

No. Position. Player.
1 Keeper Stephen Bywater
3 Defender James McEveley
4 Midfield Paul Green
5 Defender Miles Addison (vice-captain)
6 Defender Dean Leacock
7 Midfield Lee Croft
8 Midfield Robbie Savage (captain)
9 Striker Rob Hulse
10 Midfield Kris Commons
11 Midfield Gary Teale
12 Striker Chris Porter
13 Keeper Saul Deeney
14 Defender Shaun Barker
16 Midfield Stephen Pearson
17 Defender Jake Buxton
18 Midfield Ben Pringle
19 Midfield Michael Tonge (on loan from Stoke City)
20 Striker Steve Davies
21 Defender Dean Moxey
22 Midfield Arnaud Mendy
23 Defender Mark O'Brien
24 Defender Nicky Hunt (on loan from Bolton Wanderers)
25 Midfield David Martin (on loan from Millwall)
27 Defender Russell Anderson
28 Defender Mitchell Hanson
29 Striker Greg Mills
30 Keeper David Martin (on loan from Liverpool)
31 Striker Tomasz Cywka (on loan from Wigan Athletic)
32 Striker Gilles Sunu (on loan from Arsenal)
33 Defender Mark Dudley
35 Striker Callum Ball
36 Midfield Ryan Connolly

What the Bookies think:

Home Win: 6/5

Draw: 11/5

Away Win: 9/5

First Scorer: Daniel Bogdanavic, John Macken 11/2 Rob Hulse 13/2

Information for travelling fans:

Driving: It’s about 60 miles to Barnsley. Take the M1 north to J37 and then take the A628 towards Barnsley. You can’t miss the ground on the right.

The train station is around ten minutes walking from the ground however trains from Derby to Sheffield will be severely affected by engineering works this weekend. Be warned.

Parking: If you get there early enough there’s plenty of street parking otherwise park at the Metrodome Leisure centre.

Drinking: Footballgroundguide.com recommends the Hollywell Inn on Oakwell Rd near the old Barnsley brewery. The Outpost on Sheffield Rd is also popular.

Another option is to get a drink at the Metrodome which has a bar. Drinking in the town is not recommended especially if you are wearing colours.

If the away end is split between home and away fans the bar is
on the home side however for the visit of the Rams the full end should be allocated.

Mick's Preview:

We've been hit by another fine for Brawling and now the manager is up before the FA for telling the referee what he thought of him. To be honest, I thought the referee was having an okay game until the second half when he seemed to lose control.

What I can't understand is being sent off for foul and abusive
language. I don't think I've seen a game featuring Wayne Rooney where he hasn't launched a foul mouthed tirade against the officials.

Most Premier league games are the same and indeed Robbie Savage is quoted as saying that if the referee sent off every player who swore at him he'd be alone on the pitch.

Okay the fact others do it doesn't excuse it but the officials need to show a modicum of common sense - but then so do we. We seem to becoming a little bit undisciplined.

We aren't a dirty side but we can't keep blaming our predicament on the officials - Usually we're losing because
we are playing poorly.

The fact remains that Ipswich deserved to win last week. They were much the better and more professional side. Roy Keane had done his homework on us - It didn't look like Clough had done his. Our formation was poor, we again had Robbie Savage in midfield, and again we made bizarre substitutions.

Take Davies. Hapless and uninvolved up front, he suddenly started to produce something when he went out on the wing - so Clough substitutes him!

We seem to have managed to reduce Nicky Hunt to a bumbling fool. What the hell has happened to him? You wouldn't believe he was the same player he was a few weeks ago.

Gilles Sunu has gone from being an Arsenal prospect to someone who looks like he's never seen a ball in his life.

I said last week that mathematical safety is not enough. Clough and his team need to convince us to renew. I know several long time fans that have not renewed yet and are thinking about giving it a miss.

I myself have not renewed yet - and I'm still on the fence.

Three games to win us over - and another like last week may see a lot of fans walking away.

Mick's Team: 

Bywater, Anderson, Barker, McEveley, Moxey, Green, Tonge, Teale, Savage, Sunu, Hulse

Subs: Deeney, Porter, Martin, Pringle, Hunt, Davies, Cywka

Mick's Prediction:

Barnsley 2 - 1 Derby

Photo: Action Images

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