Brentford vs Barnsley preview: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Mix
Watch live on Sky Sports Mix from 7pm on Wednesday; Kick-off 7.30pm
Wednesday 22 July 2020 20:22, UK
Brentford face Barnsley in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports Mix.
Team news
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has no new injury problems as his side take on Barnsley in their last chance of earning automatic promotion to the Premier League. The Bees trail second-placed West Brom by a point going into the final round of Sky Bet Championship fixtures following Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Stoke, though they have a better goal difference.
Midfielder Shandon Baptiste returned as a late substitute at the bet365 Stadium after missing three games with a knee injury, and he will be keen to make up for lost time. Frank made only one change at the weekend with Josh Dasilva replacing Emiliano Marcondes and is likely to field his strongest possible line-up once again after seeing the club's eight-game winning run come to an end.
Barnsley's need is equally pressing, if for very different reasons, as they attempt to drag themselves out of the bottom three on the final day of the season. Their fate too is out of their own hands and even three points may not be enough to leapfrog both Luton and Charlton to safety.
Patrick Schmidt, who came off the bench to score a priceless stoppage-time winner against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, will hope for further involvement as Gerhard Struber's team fight for their lives. Struber drafted Luke Thomas and Marcel Ritzmaier back into the starting line-up against Forest and brought on leading scorer Cauley Woodrow as a half-time replacement for Kilian Ludewig.
Live EFL
Recent form
Following eight straight league wins, Brentford missed the opportunity to move above West Brom into the automatic promotion places on Saturday, following a narrow 1-0 defeat away at Stoke.
Meanwhile, Barnsley beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in stoppage-time on Sunday to preserve their Championship status until the final day at least, ending a run of four games without a win where they'd scored just one goal.
Championship: Who'll go up and down on a chaotic final day?
The Sky Bet Championship season reaches its conclusion on Wednesday evening - and there are matters to settle at both ends of the table...
What the managers said...
Brentford's Thomas Frank: "In life, and in football, you will get a few setbacks and it is so important to quickly bounce back. It hurt on Saturday night but on Monday morning everyone was energised, had fire in their eyes, and was looking forward. We lost one game.
"We have been the in-form team and we know it is not the last opportunity; it is not like we have lost a final. We have another opportunity Wednesday night and, if that doesn't pay off, we go into the play-offs as the in-form team."
Barnsley's Gerhard Struber: "We worked so hard for the goal [against Nottingham Forest] and, in the end, we deserved a big victory in our situation. Now we have the final game on Wednesday and I hope we can reproduce a similar performance so it's not so easy for Brentford against us."
"The team, the staff - everyone knows the quality in the team that they will fight and give the best that they can. We believe always that we can stay in the league; sometimes we need a little luck, but this moment showed me that we have good quality in the team and a big belief that we can stay in the league."
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Brentford have failed to score in their last two home league games against Barnsley, as many as their previous 17 at home.
Barnsley have only lost one of their last five league meetings with Brentford, although this defeat came in the reverse fixture in September (W2 D2).
Brentford's eight game winning streak in the Championship came to an end last time out, losing 1-0 at Stoke - the Bees last lost back-to-back games in the competition in August.
Barnsley have lost their final league game of the season in each of the last three seasons since beating Wigan 4-1 in League One in 2016; each of these defeats has been away from home.
Brentford's Said Benrahma could record his 50th goal involvement in the EFL - no player has been involved in more goals in the Championship since his debut in August 2018 (49 - 27 goals, 22 assists).
Prutton's prediction
What a let-off that was for West Brom. After slipping up at Huddersfield, they would have been thinking the worst, but then Brentford struggled under the pressure of it all the very next day at Stoke. It was an incredible weekend of action in many ways.
Pressure will play a big part again on Wednesday night, but West Brom could barely have handpicked a better fixture to finish their season. It really is the time where you would always rather be playing against a side with nothing to play for.
Fulham will be hoping both slip up so they can sneak through the door, but I think West Brom and Brentford will both win - sealing promotion for the Baggies.
David Prutton predicts: West Brom to win promotion
