Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s EFL Trophy clash between Barnsley and Lincoln City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Barnsley will welcome Lincoln City to Oakwell on Tuesday for the final group-stage game in Group D of the EFL Trophy Northern section.
The visitors have guaranteed their progression to the knockout stage, while the hosts are also all but though as long as they avoid a heavy defeat.
Match preview
Barnsley return to Oakwell on Tuesday in search of a third straight victory in all competitions to seal their EFL Trophy round-of-32 place in comfortable fashion.
The 2015-16 winners of the competition failed to escape the group stage in last year’s Northern Section, and they had a losing start to the latest bid, visiting fourth-tier Notts County and suffering a 2-1 defeat.
Manchester United Under-21s then visited Oakwell in October, and Conor Hourihane‘s side entered pole position for a top-two spot by dishing out a 5-2 beating, as David McGoldrick hit a hat-trick alongside goals from Neil Farrugia and Jon Russell.
After a dip in their league form, the Reds now head into Tuesday’s contest on the back of consecutive wins, firstly scraping past fifth-tier York City in the FA Cup first round before visiting Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers and returning to winning ways in League One at the weekend as Vimal Yoganathan and Davis Keillor-Dunn fired them to a 2-1 victory.
Now sitting second in Group D and leading Manchester United Under-21s by six in the goal difference column, Barnsley will aim to come out on top at Oakwell and progress in top spot.
Their visitors, meanwhile, head to South Yorkshire aiming to end the group stage with a perfect record and secure a favourable round-of-32 tie in the midst of a dip in form.
After falling short in the round of 16 of last year’s EFL Trophy, Lincoln City sealed their progression to the knockout stages of this year’s competition with a pair of victories to start in September, firstly beating Notts County 3-0 with Sonny Bradley, Ben House and James Collins on the scoresheet.
Manchester United U21s then visited the LNER Stadium, and Michael Skubala‘s side prevailed by the same scoreline in late September thanks to second-half goals from Tom Hamer, Erik Ring and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild.
The Imps return to EFL Trophy action in somewhat of a slump now, though, having failed to win any of their last four games in all competitions, most recently suffering a penalty shootout defeat to Salford City in the FA Cup and taking a 3-0 beating away at Rotherham United on Saturday with Reece James, Ar’Jany Martha and Denzel Hall scoring for the hosts.
Lincoln City will now bid to put that right and make it three wins from three alongside three clean sheets in the group stage ahead of a meeting with Doncaster Rovers next weekend.
Barnsley EFL Trophy form:
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Barnsley form (all competitions):
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Lincoln City EFL Trophy form:
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Lincoln City form (all competitions):
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Team News
Conor Hourihane will likely opt to make some rotations to his Barnsley starting XI for an EFL Trophy group tie within a busy schedule, although Mael Durand de Gevigney, Josh Earl, Georgie Gent, Adam Phillips and Fabio Jalo should all remain ruled out, while Jon Russell and Jacob Bland are away on international duty.
Neil Farrugia and Nathanael Ogbeta should both come in from the outset, while 19-year-old Vimal Yoganathan will hope to continue to impress in midfield.
Veteran David McGoldrick, who netted a hat-trick in their last EFL Trophy game, may be given a rest with Caylan Vickers and talisman Davis Keillor-Dunn in line to start in the attack with the latter having moved onto 10 goals for the season with his winner off the bench at the weekend.
Lincoln City should also take the chance to make changes on Tuesday given their knockout place is already guaranteed, although Ben House, Dom Jefferies and Jack Moylan are confined to the treatment room.
James Collins, Francis Okoronkwo and Oscar Thorn may all be given starts in attack, after Rob Street, Freddie Draper, Erik Ring and Justin Obikwu were given the nod for Saturday’s trip to Rotherham.
Ivan Varfolomeev is away with Ukraine Under-21s, while Ryley Towler will come back into the middle of a back four, having somewhat lost his starting centre-back spot in league action recently.
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Flavell; Watson, Rooney, Shepherd, Ogbeta; Nwakali, Connell; Vickers, Yoganathan, Farrugia; Keillor-Dunn
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Wickens; Darikwa, Towler, Jackson, Hamer; Barbrook, Bayliss; Thorn, Draper, Okoronkwo; Collins
We say: Barnsley 2-1 Lincoln City
With the hosts arguably boasting more squad depth to call on and the visitors out of sorts after a strong start to the season, we give a slight edge to Barnsley for Tuesday’s final group-stage tie.
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