Carlisle United will look to cause a shock in the first round of the EFL Cup when they head to Barnsley for the first meeting between the sides since 1986.

Both sides have had mixed starts to this campaign with one win and one loss each. Barnsley, back in the Championship after one season in League One, beat Fulham on the opening day of the season before losing at local rivals Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, while Carlisle’s League Two challenge started with a home win at Crawley Town before defeat at Swindon Town last time out.

Both were eliminated in the first round of the competition last year, with Barnsley losing at Blackpool and Carlisle knocked out by Blackburn Rovers. The Tykes will be strong favourites regardless of the side that they put out, having not lost a competitive fixture at Oakwell since March 2018.

Team news

Daniel Stendel made a host of changes to his Barnsley side in last year’s first-round match. If he chooses to do the same again this time around, left-back Clarke Oduor and striker Patrick Schmidt will be pushing to make their debuts after joining the club on deadline day last week from Leeds United and Austrian side Admira Wacker respectively.

Carlisle boss Steven Pressley will be without the services of Brentford loanee Canice Carroll after he was handed a three-match ban following his sending-off at Swindon.

What the managers have said

Pressley is looking forward to the cup clash, saying: “It's a game where there will be no real expectations on us to win, but we're going there with the intention of doing what we can to progress in this competition.

“This club has seen in the recent past that the Carabao Cup can get very exciting, even in the early stages, and that's why you want to stay in it for as long as possible. This game against Barnsley is an example of that.

“It's one for us all to look forward to and we know that if we play the way we can, and if we do the things we do well during the key moments of the game, then we'll give them plenty to think about.”

Barnsley’s first team coach, Dale Tonge, insists that the tie will be far from easy for the South Yorkshire side.

“I think they were unlucky at the weekend,” he said. “They came up against a strong Swindon side who have a couple of our former players in their squad and I think the red card for Carlisle scuppered their chances.

“It'll be a tough game, they'll come here with nothing to lose.”