Michael Duff was pleased with his Barnsley side’s performance in a 0-0 friendly draw with Nottingham Forest and said: ‘I don’t think it looked like a two-division gap between the teams.’

The Reds and their Premier League visitors had a similar amount of chances, with the home defence generally impressing.

Duff was introduced to the crowd before the game. He told the Chronicle: “It’s the first time I’ve ever got a cheer here. Hopefully the fans saw what we were trying to do. I don’t think it looked like a two-division gap between the teams. We had a couple of chances and a couple of times we couldn’t make the final pass. We will work on that.

“It was pleasing. We have had an out of possession week so we predicted they would have more of the ball than us but I don’t think they absolutely dominated it. They had the ball in areas we wanted them to.

"The organisation of the team was good, and so was the structure, they worked hard. You’re never going to the finished article at this stage. We saw things we have been working on in training which is good. That’s all we could ask for. The clean sheet is a bonus.”

Herbie Kane pulled out with a groin issue, with a scan due on Monday, and Callum Styles missed the game due to illness.

American international trialist Sebastian Soto, who played in last week's friendly with Crewe, has returned to parent club Norwich. Duff said: “He came with a foot injury, didn’t tell anybody, tried to get through it but, after half an hour against Crewe, he realised that the wasn’t doing himself any justice. That’s not something we’re looking at at the minute.”