Barnsley vs Nottingham Forest preview: All or nothing as Tykes face drop

With all of the appealed points deductions and potential penalties, Rachel Riley would have a hard time getting to grips with the mathematics at the bottom of the Championship table right now. But there is one very simple permutation for Barnsley to focus on this weekend: if they do not win, they are relegated.

All the fuss over Wigan Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday and more will mean diddly squat if they do not beat a Nottingham Forest side who still need a point themselves to guarantee their place in the play-offs.

It would be a tough relegation on Barnsley, who since Gerhard Struber’s mid-season appointment have played some of the best football in the division and, more recently, have had a miserly defence. But Thursday’s defeat at Premier League-bound Leeds United highlighted their shortcoming – putting the ball in the back of the net. Against another one of the best defences in the league on Sunday, they will need to be better.

Forest will be in the play-offs barring two heavy defeats and other results going against them on the final day, but they will want their place secure before the weekend is out to give themselves as much time as possible to prepare for an imminent semi-final.

Just as importantly, they will want to go into it with some form behind them. They’ve lost only once since the restart, against a Fulham side they might yet meet again, but they’ve only won twice, and not at all in the last four. Sammy Ameobi twice pulled them back from behind in Wednesday’s draw at home to Swansea City, but they will want wins on the board before the play-offs begin.

Team news

Barnsley have no known fresh injury concerns, with midfielders Romal Palmer (knee ligaments) and Elliot Simoes (ankle ligaments) out for the season and defenders Bambo Diaby still suspended.

There are still concerns over the fitness of Forest full-back Matty Cash, who has missed the last two matches. Samba Sow (knee) and Joe Lolley (shin) are struggling though both played in Wednesday’s draw with Swansea.

What the managers have said

Assistant coach Adam Murray took Barnsley press duties in place of Struber ahead of the game, and he insisted the club will keep fighting until the end.

He said: “There isn’t a thought in our mind that this is over. We represent a town that is hard-working, grasps for everything that it gets and is very passionate. We may have fallen short in some aspects over the season but we have never, ever fallen short in terms of our fight and desire.

“In hindsight, when we all look back, there probably are things we could have tweaked or changed. But there are a lot of positives too. If we could take a step back and do some things differently, we probably would.

"But we are where we are and all we can do now is give it everything Sunday and hope we are still in there with a chance on the last day.”

With Nottingham Forest’s season coming down to these final few weeks, head coach Sabri Lamouchi said they must continue to work hard.

“The players need to not only stay calm, but they have to do what they have done until now,” he said. “They work with this spirit and this determination because at the end, they know what they can do.

“What we have done in one year now, we have two weeks or three weeks with a lot of things to play for.”

Lamouchi added of their opponents:

”They will never give up, they will try and believe until the last moment, so we will play a tough game. (Thursday’s game) was difficult for Leeds, they changed many things but also the opponent did. Barnsley are a team that played well, so they will be angry and they will want to fight until the last moment to stay in this league.”

Head-to-head

Nottingham Forest have won the last two meetings between the teams, including the reverse fixture back in September when Ben Watson’s first goal for the club gave them a 1-0 win.

The last clash at Oakwell went the way of the Yorkshire side though, a 2-1 early-season success in August 2017.