Barnsley play host to Derby County on Wednesday evening looking to extend their Championship winning streak to eight matches.
While the hosts have the opportunity to move level on points with fifth-placed Reading, Derby sit six points above the relegation zone after three matches without a victory.
Match preview
© Reuters
On the back of six successive victories, there will be elements of Barnsley's performance during the 1-0 win over Birmingham City which would have disappointed Valerien Ismael.
Nevertheless, claiming maximum points was all that mattered to the Tykes, who have put themselves into a position where they can move to within six points of automatic promotion.
Ismael and the club's supporters will only have eyes for the playoffs, something which would be a remarkable achievement given that they only narrowly escaped relegation last season.
However, this side have shown few signs of faltering over the past few weeks, only increasing expectations that they can end their 23-year wait for a return to the Premier League.
Daryl Dike scored the decisive goal in the victory over Blues, the 20-year-old's third strike since arriving at the club in January.
© Reuters
Ahead of a triple-header which included Nottingham Forest and Coventry City, Wayne Rooney would have envisaged Derby continuing to move in the right direction.
While a share of the spoils against neighbours Forest was a satisfactory result, defeats to Cardiff City and the Sky Blues have left Derby and Rooney looking over their shoulder.
Rotherham United still have at least two matches in hand on many of their rivals, leaving the England legend with much to ponder ahead of the coming matches.
Aside from the final game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday, Derby have no more fixtures remaining against teams sitting below 15th position.
Derby travel to Yorkshire having lost their last three away fixtures, leaving them with the sixth-worst away record in the division.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Rooney may hand a recall to defender George Edmundson, a decision which would allow Andre Wisdom to feature ahead of Nathan Byrne at right-back.
Kamil Jozwiak could also return to the Derby XI, but David Marshall and Krystian Bielik still remain sidelined.
Ismael is expected to continue with his usual rotation, which should lead to starting roles for Toby Sibbick and Carlton Morris.
Michael Sollbauer and Dominik Frieser are most likely to drop out of the Barnsley starting lineup.
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Collins; Andersen, Helik, Sibbick; Brittain, Palmer, Mowatt, Styles; Woodrow, Dike, Morris
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Roos; Wisdom, Clarke, Edmundson, Buchanan; Bird, Shinnie; Waghorn, Knight, Jozwiak; Kazim-Richards
We say: Barnsley 2-0 Derby County
Still short of the 40-point mark, Rooney is under pressure to deliver a turnaround in form over the coming weeks. However, we feel that Barnsley will extend their winning streak on Wednesday night, potentially adding another clean sheet in the process.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barnsley win with a probability of 44.72%. A win for Derby County had a probability of 27.78% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barnsley win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.68%) and 2-1 (8.68%). The likeliest Derby County win was 0-1 (9.56%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.88%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood.
