Luton Town vs Barnsley preview: Both teams desperate for three points in relegation clash

Luton Town and Barnsley will be desperate to recover from embarrassing defeats at the weekend, as they both look to form a late campaign for Championship survival.

On Saturday, Luton were smashed 5-0 by Reading at Kenilworth Road, meaning that the Hatters remained bottom of the table, five points from safety.

Consequently, with only five games left to play, relegation for Nathan Jones’ side does seem to be inevitable.

In comparison, Barnsley were destroyed 4-0 at the Bet365 Stadium against relegation rivals Stoke City last weekend, leaving the Tykes in 23rd spot, four points away from the relegation zone.

Therefore, with relegation in touching distance for both sides, a defeat for either team could all but destroy their survival hopes.

Team News

For the match against Reading, Luton's top goal scorer James Collins was brought back into the starting 11 alongside winger Harry Cornick, midfielder Izzy Brown and striker Elliot Lee.

However, with how disastrous their result against Reading was, Jones may go back to a similar team that earned a fantastic draw away to top of the table Leeds United last Tuesday.

Consequently, Callum McManaman, who was dropped to the bench against Reading could be recalled to Jones starting lineup.

On the other hand, Barnsley only have one player who is confirmed out of the relegation encounter, which is midfielder Romal Palmer who will miss the remainder of the season due to knee ligament damage suffered in last week's 2-0 victory at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Although, after Gerhard Struber's humiliating defeat last time out, changes are to be expected ahead of this crucial fixture.

Recent Form

Even though Luton suffered a disappointing defeat in their last game, it was their first loss in seven games, with the Hatters in that time winning twice, which came at home to Brentford and on the road to Swansea City and then picking up draws on the other four occasions.

This loss was Jones’ first since he re-joined the club as manager for the second time, arguably giving Luton fans confidence going into Tuesday's encounter and potential hope that they can muster a great escape.

Whereas for Barnsley, their defeat at Stoke was their first in four games having beat Blackburn at home and QPR away and then having to settle for a goalless draw against Millwall at Oakwell.

However, the Tykes form away from home this season is the second worst out of any team in the division with only their opponents being worse on the road.

Barnsley have managed to only win four times on the road in 20 games- drawing three and losing the other 13.

Previous Clashes

In the reverse fixture, Luton earned a surprising 3-1 win which was in fact their first of the season.

Goals from Jacob Butterfield and Collins gave Luton a two goal advantage inside the first five minutes, before Cornick added a third just after the half hour mark.

Mallik Wilks grabbed a consolation goal with 18 minutes remaining, but it ultimately proved to not be anywhere near enough as the Hatters eased to an easy victory.

This win was actually Luton's first against Barnsley since September 2006 when they beat the Tykes 2-1 at Oakwell with Ahmet Brkovic who came on as a substitute headed home the winner in second half stoppage time.

Although Barnsley have a good record at Luton as they have not lost in the last five outings at Kenilworth Road with their last defeat there coming in the League Cup in November 1998, as Luton ran out as 1-0 victors.

Therefore, due to their decent record at the Hatters, Barsnely fans will be fairly confident that they come away with a victory which would surely keep their hopes of survival alive.