Barnsley vs Portsmouth Preview

17 February 2012 18:16
Injury hit Pompey look to pull away from the relegation zone.

Michael Appleton's "bare bones" Portsmouth team have travelled to Barnsley (via coach) as they look tp put some distance between them and the bottom three of the Championship.

Team News

Pompey will be without Kelvin Etuhu, Liam Lawrence, David Norris and Luke Varney for certain whilst Greg Halford, Joel Ward and Ricardo Rocha are all major doubts.

Kanu might feature as he and some of the academy trained together during the week as the squad reaches breaking point.

Ex-Pompey winger David Cotterill could make his Barnsley debut after signing as a free agent and Stephen Dawson could return but Bobby Hassell is out.

The Match

Portsmouth may be facing a financial crisis off the pitch but an injury crisis has hit matters on the pitch with Michael Appleton wondering if he will even be able to field a team tomorrow.

Twelve players took part in training today. Aaron Mokoena, Dave Kitson, Kanu and Adam Webster were joined by eight academy youngsters to highlight how bad the situation is.

Those who aren't definitely injured are being protected so they have a chance of featuring tomorrow. Barnsley might be licking their lips at taking on a patched up Pompey, especially after Tuesday's poor performance.

If there was ever a test of Pompey's spirit then tomorrow is just that. There is a possibility that the Tykes could completely rip us apart given the week we've had but I believe the players will pull together and give what is, in all honesty, a mid-table mediocre outfit a good game.

We'll need the points desperately too, especially as there might be a bigger points deduction than expected. Minus ten is difficult enough so any more than that will make this a "must win" match.

On a final note, I'm personally looking forward to how the fans respond at Oakwell. There should be another atmosphere created that will send a tingle down the spine.

Hopefully the players will respond and fight for a positive result.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Barnsley

GK: Luke STEELE

RB: Scott WISEMAN

CB: Jim McNULTY

CB: Rob EDWARDS

LB: Scott GOLBOURNE

RM: Jim O'BRIEN

CM: Korey SMITH

CM: David PERKINS

LM: Michael TONGE

CF: Craig DAVIES

CF: Andy GRAY

Pompey

GK: Stephen HENDERSON

RB: Tal BEN-HAIM

CB: Jason PEARCE

CB: Ricardo ROCHA

LB: Adam WEBSTER

RM: Joel WARD

CM: Hayden MULLINS

CM: Aaron MOKOENA

LM: Erik HUSEKLEPP

CF: Dave KITSON

CF: Marko FUTACS

Click here for the Fratton Faithful Barnsley Championship Profile page.

Last Time: Barnsley 1 Portsmouth 0 (Championship - 20/11/2010)

A dire game in which Pompey had only two shots at goal and were given plenty of decisions by the referee was settled by an early Adam Hammill strike.

My Prediction

Barnsley haven't drawn in 20 games but I have a feeling this one will be. Whilst the squad has been hit by injuries, there is still enough spirit and quality there to get a result.

Barnsley 1 Portsmouth 1

Source: FOOTYMAD