Football League World
·18 September 2023
Football League World
·18 September 2023
Two League One promotion hopefuls are set to go head to head at Oakwell on Tuesday night, when Barnsley host Portsmouth.
The Tykes narrowly missed out on promotion in the play-off final at the end of last season, while Pompey finished an underwhelming eighth, seven points adrift of the top six.
Both sides have made reasonably encouraging starts to the current campaign, as they look to improve on those previous exploits.
With both having taken 13 points from their seven league games this season - Barnsley have four wins, one draw and two defeats, while Pompey are unbeaten but have three wins and four draws - the two teams go into this one sitting fifth and sixth in the early League One standings.
This therefore, looks well set to be an intriguing encounter between two closely matched teams in Yorkshire on Tuesday.
So with that in mind, we've taken a look at all the big questions that might be asked ahead of that game, right here.
Speaking in the past week, Barnsley manager Neill Collins revealed that midfielder Luca Connell and defender Robbie Cundy are yet to return to training, having yet to feature this season for fitness reasons.
As a result, it is likely that this match with Pompey will come too soon for the duo, although their options are improving somewhat, with Connor McCarthy and Josh Benson making their returns to action in the past week.
Portsmouth meanwhile, could welcome back Joe Rafferty and Joe Morrell, after the two completed their suspensions following recent red cards.
However, striker Kusini Yengi, midfielder Tom Lowery and defender Josh Dockerill are all long-term injury absentees for John Mousinho's side, while it also remains to be seen if winger Anthony Scully will be fit to return after his recent knee injury.
There is more positive news on attacker Christian Saydee, who should be fit for the trip to Oakwell, after missing the draw at Derby at the weekend with a hamstring issue, while Colby Bishop is also likely to feature, having gone down with cramp late in that clash with the Rams, after not training last week due to illness.
Tickets are still available to both Barnsley and Portsmouth fans ahead of this game, with the visitors having been allocated just under 2,500 seats for this game.
Prices for the match start from £23 for adults, £16 for over 65s and 19-21s, £10 for those between 13 and 18, and £5 for under 13s.
Barnsley vs Portsmouth will not be available to watch live on UK television, although fans of both clubs should be able to follow the fixture via their respective iFollow sites.
Highlights will also be available via Sky Sports' football site and YouTube after the game, as well as on the EFL round-up show on ITV4 from 11:30pm on Wednesday night.
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