A crucial clash at the top end of the League One table will take place at Oakwell on Saturday, as Plymouth Argyle travel to take on Barnsley.

The visitors currently sit second with a five-point lead over the chasing pack in the fight for automatic promotion, while their hosts find themselves fourth, 11 points behind their visitors, but with two games in hand.

Match preview

In their bid to earn promotion back to the Championship this season, Barnsley come into the weekend as one of the form teams in League One, having not lost any of their last nine games since mid-January.

In that time, the Tykes have managed to put seven victories on the board, accumulating 23 points and beginning to narrow the gap to the top three as a result.

Following four consecutive triumphs against Cambridge United, Port Vale, Cheltenham Town and Derby County, with the latter two being resounding 4-0 and 4-1 beatings respectively, Michael Duff's side made the trip to Bristol Rovers last weekend and had to settle for a point from a goalless draw, before seeking to return to winning ways when they hosted Portsmouth at Oakwell on Tuesday.

The Yorkshire outfit succeeded in doing so, as they went 2-0 up through James Norwood and Nicky Cadden in the first half, before Devante Cole ensured they took all three points from an eventual 3-1 triumph with his side's third on the hour mark.

Such a result saw Duff's men further strengthen their position at the top end of England's third tier, as they now lead seventh-placed Wycombe Wanderers by six points having played a game fewer, and while the top two may seem a far cry, the Tykes can reduce the gap between themselves and their second-placed opponents to eight points while keeping two games in hand if they are able to pull off another impressive victory on Saturday.

They meet a Plymouth Argyle side who will be keen to increase their cushion in the top two, on the back of crucial back-to-back wins.

The Pilgrims have occupied the summit of the League One table for the majority of the campaign thus far, and while they have recently been overtaken by Sheffield Wednesday, they have quickly bounced back from some minor setbacks to maintain a lead over the chasing pack.

After moving onto 67 points from 31 outings with back-to-back victories in February, Steven Schumacher's side would have to settle for a goalless draw at home to Fleetwood Town, before suffering a 5-2 thrashing away at Peterborough, but it did not take them long to make a return to winning ways.

They hosted Charlton Athletic last weekend and prevailed in a 2-0 triumph, thanks to goals from Ryan Hardie and Niall Ennis, before coming from behind in a tough test at home to promotion-chasing Derby County on Tuesday, as Callum Wright and Hardie found the net in the second half after they went into the interval 1-0 down.

Such a result saw the Pilgrims remain level on points with leaders Sheffield Wednesday and five points above Ipswich Town, although with the latter enjoying a fine run of their own in their bid to climb back into the top two, Plymouth will know they cannot afford to let up in the final 11 games of the campaign and must continue building a run of results.

Team News

Given their impressive run of form and dominant victory on Tuesday, Barnsley could come into Saturday's game with an unchanged starting XI, and James Norwood and Devante Cole are bound to again start up front, having both got on the scoresheet against Portsmouth to take their tallies to eight and 10 league goals for the season respectively.

They will have additional support from Nicky Cadden and Adam Phillips, with Luca Connell again set to operate at the base of the midfield.

Defender Mads Andersen remains a key man for Duff's side, having starred in all 33 league games so far this term, and he should again don the captain's armband and be joined by Bobby Thomas and Liam Kitching in a back three.

Plymouth Argyle remain without centre-back Dan Scarr and first-choice goalkeeper Michael Cooper through injuries, meaning Callum Burton will keep his place between the sticks behind a back three of James Wilson, Macauley Gillesphey and Nigel Lonwijk.

Ryan Hardie will continue to lead the line, having found the net in back-to-back league games to take his tally to 13 for the season, while the likes of Niall Ennis, Danny Mayor and Finn Azaz are fighting to join him in the front line, as is Callum Wright who found the net off the bench last time out.

Jay Matete is also vying to return to the starting XI in midfield after he was reduced to a substitute appearance last time out, with Matt Butcher and Jordan Houghton deployed from the outset in the engine room.

Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Collins; Thomas, Andersen, Kitching; Williams, Cadden, Connell, Phillips, Kane; Cole, Norwood

Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Burton; Wilson, Gillesphey, Lonwijk; Edwards, Houghton, Matete, Mumba; Azaz, Hardie, Ennis

We say: Barnsley 1-1 Plymouth Argyle

The two teams will be full of confidence given their recent results, and the hosts have shown that they are more than capable of mixing it at the top of League One in the last few months.

While we do not see them triumphing over Schumacher's men, we anticipate the Tykes at least forcing a share of the spoils on home turf.


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