Jim McNulty will return to the Reds squad for the first time in six matches tomorrow after recovering from an ankle injury.
Reds boss David Flitcroft could rotate his squad with a massive relegation six pointer against Wolves coming up on Tuesday. Striker Jason Scotland has scored three times in three substitute appearances and is pushing for a start, as it fellow new recruit Chris O’Grady.
Scott Wiseman is the only injury concern after picking up a knock in training.
Goalkeeper Luke Steele will make his 177th appearance for the club tomorrow, exactly five years to the day since he made his first.
Last time out - Barnsley Team:
Luke Steele
Scott Golbourne
Stephen Foster
Martin Cranie
Tom Kennedy
Rory Delap
Jim O’Brien
David Perkins
Kelvin Etuhu
Marlon Harewood
Chris Dagnall
Last Six MK Dons/Wimbledon v Barnsley Results:
19/9/06 Barnsley 1-2 MK Dons (League Cup)
21/1/06 Barnsley 2-0 MK Dons (League One)
17/9/05 MK Dons 0-0 Barnsley (League One)
19/3/05 Barnsley 1-1 MK Dons (League One)
7/8/04 MK Dons 1-1 Barnsley (League One)
21/4/02 Wimbledon 0-1 Barnsley (Division One)
Overall Record:
MK Dons/Wimbledon Wins: 7
Barnsley Wins: 8
Draws: 9
MK Dons/Wimbledon Goals: 25
Barnsley Goals: 28
At MK Dons/Wimbledon (6 at Plough Lane, 4 at Selhurst Park, 2 at Stadium: MK):
MK Dons/Wimbledon Wins: 3
Barnsley Wins: 3
Draws: 6
MK Dons/Wimbledon Goals: 13
Barnsley Goals: 11
This SeasonLast six 2012-2013 results:
MK Dons:
9/2/12 Oldham 3-1 MK Dons (League One)
2/2/12 MK Dons 0-3 Bournemouth (League One)
29/1/13 Yeovil 2-1 MK Dons (League One)
26/1/13 QPR 2-4 MK Dons (FA Cup)
15/1/13 MK Dons 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday (FA Cup)
12/1/13 MK Dons 1-1 Bury (League One)
W: 2 D: 1 L: 3 F: 9 A: 11 GD: -2 Points: 1 * two victories in FA Cup.
Barnsley:
9/2/13 Middlesbrough 2-3 Barnsley (Championship)
2/2/13 Blackpool 1-2 Barnsley (Championship)
29/1/13 Barnsley 2–0 Millwall (Championship)
26/1/13 Hull 0–1 Barnsley (FA Cup)
19/1/13 Ipswich 1-1 Barnsley (Championship)
12/1/13 Barnsley 2–0 Leeds (Championship)
W: 5 D: 1 L: 0 F: 11 A: 4 GD: +7 Points: 13* (one victory in FA Cup)
Interesting Stats:
League One side Milton Keynes Dons come into this game having won just two of their last eight matches- both of them in the FA Cup. The Dons knocked out Barnsley’s South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Premier League side Queens Park Rangers in the Third and Fourth Rounds respectively but this cup run, their best since they moved to Milton Keynes, has taken a toll on their tilt at promotion.
Karl Robinson’s side were sixth on New Year’s Day and had seen off Cambridge and AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup but since then they have failed to win a single league match and have dropped to 11th, 10 points off the top six.
As previously mentioned this is the MK Dons best ever run in the FA Cup. The last time they reached the Fifth Round, back in 2000-2001 they were still known as Wimbledon.
Barnsley are in their best form for 12 years having won six of their last seven matches. The last time they managed such a feat was back in February/March 2001 when victories over Crystal Palace, Crewe, Grimsby, Huddersfield, Tranmere and Gillingham were interrupted only by defeat at Nottingham Forest.
The Reds have won four matches on the bounce to mirror their best run of last season when they saw off Doncaster, Leeds, Peterborough and Crystal Palace in November/December 2011.
They have not won five matches in a row since the start of the 1996-1997 promotion season when after a victory over West Brom and League Cup defeat at Rochdale they defeated Huddersfield, Reading, Rochdale, Manchester City and Stoke.
They are also hunting a third successive away victory for the first time in seven years. They ended the 2005-2006 season with away victories at Walsall and Huddersfield before starting 2006-2007 with wins on the road at Hull and Colchester.
It took Barnsley 23 league matches (half a season) to net more than once in three seperate games. They have now scored more than once in each of their last three matches. Saturday’s 3-2 win at Middlesbrough was only the second time they have netted more than twice in a game, the other being the 5-0 win at Birmingham.
Jason Scotland has scored in each of his first three league games for The Reds, the first player to do that since fellow Trinidadian Clint Marcelle in the 1996-1997 promotion season. Although Marcelle’s three goals were separated by two League Cup games in which he did not score.
If Scotland notches again at Stadium: MK tomorrow he will become the first Reds player to score in four successive games since Ricardo Vaz Te in 2011.
Both Jim O’Brien and Scotland have netted in the last two games, the first time the same two players have netted in consecutive games for Barnsley since Vaz Te and Craig Davies managed it against Leeds and Peterborough in December 2011. Indeed that pair managed to net together in three games out of four in that period.
You have to go back all the way to March 2001 for the last time Barnsley had the same two goal-scorers on the score sheet for three matches in a row. Bruce Dyer and Neil Shipperley netted in back to back victories over Huddersfield, Tranmere and Gillingham- the same period in which they recorded those six wins in seven mentioned earlier.
Goalkeeper Luke Steele will mark his fifth anniversary at the club tomorrow. It will be exactly five years to the day since he made his memorable debut in the FA Cup Fifth Round triumph at Liverpool. Out of the players in the squad that day, only Steele, Stephen Foster and Bobby Hassell are still at the club.
Barnsley have won their last two FA Cup matches against lower league sides with their last FA Cup defeat against a side in a division lower than them coming in 2004 when they were knocked out by Northampton in the First Round.
This will be the sixth time the two sides have met since MK Dons came into being and three of the previous five have ended in draws.
Both sides have one victory each, The Reds 2-0 in a League One encounter in January 2006 and the Dons, 2-1 in a League Cup tie eight months later.
The Reds have never lost at Stadium: MK, drawing each of their two visits.
Indeed Barnsley have lost just one of the last eight meetings with MK Dons or Wimbledon.
MK Dons have netted 14 goals in the FA Cup this season compared to Barnsley’s two but The Reds are yet to concede a goal in the competition this season.
Barnsley are aiming to make the Quarter-Finals for only the second time in 14 years whilst MK Dons/Wimbledon are aiming to get there for the first time in 16 years. The last time both sides got to the last eight they ended up making it to the Semi-Finals.
On This Day:
MK Dons:
Played: 3 Won: 0 Drawn: 2 Lost: 1 Scored: 1 Conceded: 2.
Last match on the 16th February: 2002. MK Dons 1-1 Crystal Palace (Francis) ATT: 13,564.
Last win: Never
Last draw: 2002
Last defeat: 1999
STAT! MK Dons have only played three times on this date and have never won.
Barnsley:
Played: 12 Won: 3 Drawn: 2 Lost: 7 Scored 17 Conceded 22.
Last match on the 16th February: 2010. Scunthorpe 2-1 Barnsley (Bogdanovic). ATT: 5,648.
Last win: 2008
Last draw: 1999
Last defeat: 2010
STAT! – Barnsley have won only one of their last seven matches on this date but it was in the FA Cup Fifth Round- 2-1 at Liverpool in 2008.
Mad Sites:
www.mkdons-mad.co.uk
www.barnsley-mad.co.uk
Official Sites:
www.mkdons.com
www.barnsleyfc.co.uk
Other Fixtures:
Saturday 16th February 2013:
12:45pm:
Luton v Millwall
3pm:
Arsenal v Blackburn
6pm:
Oldham v Everton
Sunday 17th February 2013:
2pm:
Manchester City v Leeds
3:55pm:
Huddersfield v Wigan
Monday 18th February 2013:
8pm:
Manchester United v Reading
Wednesday 27th February 2013:
7:45pm:
Middlesbrough v Brentford/Chelsea
Source: TykesMAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
