Barnsley assistant head coach Andreas Winkler has challenged his side to show their best performance against Doncaster Rovers tomorrow.
The Reds head into the South Yorkshire derby off the back of three straight wins and sit third in the League One table.
Team news
Barnsley are not planning to bring Jordan Smith back to the club, despite the Nottingham Forest goalkeeper impressing last week.
Smith has returned to Forest following an emergency loan last week, with first-choice goalkeeper Adam Davies back from international duty with Wales.
On the prospect of Smith returning, Winkler said:
“He made our team composed and talked a lot in training and had good communication and I was very happy for him and can take this confidence back to Nottingham.
“I think it is short-term to talk about it after three training sessions and one match. I do not talk about it and goalkeepers right now. We have some really good goalkeepers.”
Barnsley have no other fresh injury news ahead of their clash with Rovers.
Adam Jackson is back after serving his suspension with Kenny Dougall (ankle) and Jack Walton (knee) the only long-term absentees.
Doncaster Rovers
The Reds face Doncaster Rovers on Saturday, in an eagerly awaited derby clash at Oakwell.
Barnsley head into the game in fine form, but assistant head coach Andreas Winkler knows this will count for nothing on Saturday.
He said:
“It is a brilliant situation. Every win makes us stronger.
“There is a lot of competition in the squad. We have three clean sheets now in the league.
“Everything is good, everything is fine right now, but we know we have to be humble and look ahead to Saturday.
“A South Yorkshire derby that will be a tough match. It is very important for our supporters, for the club.
“We are doing well right now, but every match starts from the beginning and we need to show our best performance.”
Rovers halted a run of three successive league defeats last week with a home victory against AFC Wimbledon.
Grant McCann’s side are only out of the play-offs on goal difference and go into the Oakwell clash on the back of thrashing non-league Chorley 7-0 in midweek.
This has made Winkler wary of his side’s South Yorkshire rivals.
He said:
“We have had them watched, they have really good offence, have a good plan of football.
“They like to play football, not only direct but they can play on the shoulder through the centre-forward, but it is a good team and a tough match, tough derby.
“We like to play with high energy. We are well prepared for a derby.
“I know this means a lot to the supporters and we want to go on a winning run, so we look forward to Saturday. We have to let the players off the leash, let the boys play and show their best performance.”
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