Next Up: Barnsley vs Exeter City
The second Matt Taylor era (however brief it may turn out to be) got underway with a battling draw that, but for an erroneous flag and a contentious penalty decision, could have seen him get off to the best possible start against Burton. Taylor’s first road trip is ironically to the venue where City’s first league match after his departure to Rotherham took place. There were two notable returnees to the side on Tuesday night with Carlos Mendes Gomes starting and Kevin McDonald coming off the bench – the inclusion of the former meant Ryan Rydel missed out due to the loan rules (to the uninitiated, you’re only allowed five loanees in your matchday 18). Missing the match having made an abortive comeback on Saturday was Jack Fitzwater, while Pierce Sweeney admitted he was lucky not to miss several weeks with the injury he picked up against Bolton. It had been confirmed before Burton that Reece Cole and Danny Andrew are close to a return, which would be welcome news for Taylor going forward given how busy the schedule looks over the next few weeks.
Barnsley were also in action on Tuesday night and, in a season that isn’t exactly going to plan, the Tykes were on the receiving end of a 0-1 defeat at home to Wycombe, a result that was greeted with a chorus of boos amongst the notoriously fragile home support. Barnsley’s form has been generally very up and down all season, and Conor Hourihane’s side are currently just above City (indeed, had City netted a winner against Burton then the sides would have switched places). Hourihane had a busy transfer window, most notably losing top scorer Davis Keillior-Dunn to Wrexham, leaving veteran David McGoldrick to carry the attack with 12 league goals (15 in all competitions).
The 38 year old was missing when Barnsley made the long trip to Devon just before Christmas, a match that City dominated from start to finish to win 3-0 with goals from Niskanen, Wareham and Cole. City have won all three times at Oakwell since the sides came together in 2022 for the first time since 1981 – last season City clinched a 2-1 win through goals from Trevitt and Magennis after Humphrys had equalised for the hosts. Indeed, City have a good record overall in league matches against the South Yorkshire side, winning 14 times to Barnsley’s nine, with just four draws.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Ross Joyce
Assistant Referees: Aaron Hallam and Samuel Clayton
Fourth Official : Declan O’Regan
Ross Joyce took charge of our opening game of the season, the 1-0 defeat to Doncaster Rovers. He’s taken charge of 29 games so far this season, showing the yellow card to 99 players with no sendings off.
Interview with interim manager Matt Taylor
Interview with Liam Oakes