CARDIFF CITY v BARNSLEYSaturday 7th December, 3pm
SkyBet Championship
Cardiff City Stadium TEAM NEWS
Neil Harris is likely to have Robert Glatzel available for selection today against Barnsley, with the striker finally set for a return to the squad after over a month out.
The German striker hobbled off against Swansea City at the end of October owing to a hamstring problem and has not been seen since, missing five games in the process.
In his absence, however, Harris has entrusted Gary Madine with leading the line and it is fair to say he has done a sterling job.
It remains to be seen whether Harris will stick by his man or reintroduce Glatzel, who has scored twice since signing for £5.5m from Heidenheim in the summer.
Another player likely to be back fit again is Gavin Whyte. The winger picked up a knock while on international duty with Northern Ireland, meaning, despite playing a big part under Neil Warnock, he is also yet to feature under Harris.
Given the incumbents, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Junior Hoilett, are performing so well, it would be unlikely that Harris will oust them to accommodate Whyte in the starting XI this afternoon.
Meanwhile Joe Ralls started back training again this week following his groin injury.
Harris has talked up the midfielder in recent weeks, calling him a 'superstar' in one of his first press conferences, while this week he said: "[He has a] Wonderful temperament, a great attitude and is a great trainer.
"He's been really impressive this week and I look forward to having him in the group."
Whether that is this weekend, however, is still touch and go. Leandro Bacuna and Marlon Pack have struck up a brilliant partnership in the middle of the park and it appears likely, especially with two difficult games next week, Ralls won't be risked.
Matthew Connolly and Isaac Vassell are the long-term absentees, while Jazz Richards and Sol Bamba are getting closer but still not thought to be ready just yet.
Cardiff City are unbeaten in three games under Neil Harris
ITS PAY ON THE DAY FOR CARDIFF & BARNSLEY FANS
About BarnsleyBarnsley Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The team play in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Tykes", they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Preedy under the name Barnsley St. Peter's. The club's colours were originally blue, but were converted to red and white in 1904 and have played in those colours ever since. Their home ground since 1888 has been Oakwell.
Barnsley won the FA Cup in 1911–12 and were also runners-up in 1909–10. The club won two trophies at Wembley Stadium in 2016 – the Football League Trophy, beating Oxford United 3–2 in the final, and the 2016 Football League play-offs, beating Millwall 3–1 in the final. Barnsley became only the second club to secure both the Football League Trophy and Football League promotion via playoff finals in the same season, after Grimsby Town F.C..
On 19 December 2017, it was announced that Patrick Cryne and family had agreed to sell a majority stake in Barnsley Football Club to a consortium involving Chien Lee of NewCity Capital, Grace Hung and Paul Conway of Pacific Media Group, Indian businessman Neerav Parekh and baseball legend Billy Beane. The new consortium holds 80% of the shares and the Cryne family holds 20% of the shares of Barnsley Football club. Barnsley fans often consider their biggest rivals to be Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Leeds United, although other significant rivalries exist with Huddersfield Town, Rotherham United, Doncaster Rovers, Bradford City and Chesterfield.
Previous MeetingWe last played Barnsley in March 2018. We won the Championship fixture at Cardiff City Stadium 2-1. Callum Paterson and Marko Grujic got our goals, before Ollie McBurnie got a consolation for the visitors.
Team News - Predicted Line-Ups Cardiff City: Etheridge, Peltier, Nelson, Flint, Bennett, Pack, Bacuna, Hoilett, Mendez-Laing, Paterson, Madine
Barnsley: Sahin-Radlinger, Williams, Diaby, Andersen, Williams, Halme, Bahre, Mowatt, Woodrow, Chaplin, Brown
Form - Last Three Games Nottingham Forest 0-1 Cardiff City
Cardiff City 1-0 Stoke City
Charlton Athletic 2-2 Cardiff City
Barnsley 3-1 Hull City
Middlesbrough 1-0 Barnsley
Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Barnsley
Match OddsCardiff City - 13/20
Barnsley - 15/4
Draw - 3/1
PredictionsPost your predictions below