A WAY THROUGH THIS
BARNSLEY v MIDDLESBROUGH
Jonathan Way, 28 Dec 2009
Relief...
Was the feeling around the Riverside after Gordon Strachan picked up his first home win as Boro boss at the fifth attempt. With three goals and three points in the bag, the Teessider's now just sit four points off the play offs.
With half of the campaign now gone, Strachan knows his team are going to have to vastly improve if we are to clinch a highly contested top six finish.
Barnsley's disappointing start to the season led to the sacking of manager Simon Davey after a run of four defeats in his opening five games. Since the appointment of Mark Robins in early September, the Tykes have gone from bottom of the table, to lose just four times and move eight points clear of the relegation zone.
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Luke Steele v Danny Coyne
The former Manchester United player has played some important fixtures for Barnsley, most notably his man of the match performances against Liverpool and Chelsea in the Tykes famous FA cup run in 2008. With Steele averaging just over a goal per game, there should be a good chance of the Boro scoring at Oakwell.
The experienced goalkeeper made his first start under Strachan on Saturday and received a standing ovation from the crowd as he ran onto the pitch. It wasn't by chance that Coyne made his fifth clean sheet of the campaign and should rightly stay our number one for certainly the near future.
Darren Moore v Chris Riggott
The Jamaican international would have hoped to put in a better account of himself at Crystal Palace the other week, as he made his seventeenth start of the season. Having had Boxing Day off, due to their fixture against Preston being postponed, the 35 year old will be looking for his team to pile more misery on Gordon Strachan.
Our number five made his first appearance for the Teessider's against Scunthorpe since February, following two operations on his ankle. With St Ledger returning to Preston and Poggy picking up a knock, Riggott will become an even more vital part to our back line.
Emil Hallfredsson v Adam Johnson
Hallfredsson joined Barnsley on a season long loan from Italian side Reggina in the summer in search of first team football. Scoring his first goal for the Tykes against Newcastle and then putting in a man of the match display against Crystal Palace, things are suddenly looking up for the midfielder after a frustrating start at Oakwell.
Our top scorer ended his goalless run of eight games without a goal by coolly slotting away our penalty in the eleventh minute. With rumours about the club offering Johnson a new £1.5 million-a-year deal, hopefully this will be enough to retain our most prized asset at the Riverside for the coming future.
Daniel Bogdanovic v Jeremie Aliadiere
The 29 year olds first goal in five matches was enough for Barnsley to take a point away from Selhurst Park with an excellently curled finish. Having been taken off after 50 minutes of the game, Bogdanovic will be hoping he can retain his starting place against Boro and try and add to his four goal tally for the campaign.
Aliadiere finally got what he deserved on Boxing Day as he scored his fourth goal of the season to cap off a brilliant performance.
With Lita being the first Boro player to get a red card this campaign, the Frenchman is likely to stay in the starting eleven and hopefully keep on running defences ragged.
Hopefully we have finally turned a corner and the 3-0 win over Scunthorpe won't end up being a one-off display like the QPR victory was. With Lita missing out, hopefully we'll have enough firepower up front to secure all three points.
Despite Barnsley coming into this fixture with a seven match unbeaten run, I hope Middlesbrough will return to their impressive away form and defeat the Tykes 2-1 at Oakwell.
