Barnsley will look to continue their excellent away form on Easter Monday when they visit Martin Paterson’s relegation-battling Burton Albion from 3pm.
The Reds are fifth In the League One table, ten points off second - with two games in hand - and seven clear in the top six, following Friday’s 2-0 home loss to lowly Cambridge.
Neill Collins’ side are unbeaten in ten away league games, equalling a club record for such a run in the same season
A victory would take them to 42 away points, one more than the current club record, and 12 victories which would equal another record.
Burton are 20th, a point and a place clear of the relegation zone.
Their boss is Martin Paterson, who was Collins’ assistant as Tampa Bay Rowdies from 2018 to 2020 having also played alongside the current Barnsley boss in Florida.
After two other jobs in America, the 36-year-old returned to the UK last season as assistant to Michael Duff at Barnsley.
He was seen as a key figure in the run to the play-off final then moved to Swansea City with Duff last summer, before they were both sacked in early December.
Collins told the Chronicle: “That gives him a little bit of insight but a lot has moved on since Martin left.
“He’s got a lot on his own plate right now as we do.
“He’s one of my former assistants. That maybe makes it interesting for you guys (the media) but all I want is three points.”
Paterson took his first manager’s role in January, taking over from Dino Maamria at Burton.
After winning three of five games early on, they have collected just two points and three goals from eight games.
They had lost four in a row before drawing 1-1 at Wigan on Friday.
Albion have lost their last five home games, scoring just once.
They are the second lowest-scorers in the division with 32 goals from 40 games.
Collins said: “In some respects, it’s very similar to the last couple of games. We need to do a little bit more but I also think if we do a lot of the things we’ve done in the last couple of games we won’t be far away from three points. We all need to be a little bit better. Some of the individual performance levels are not quite at the level they have set.
“I believe we can get them back there or bring other people in who can maybe get that impetus.”
Barnsley’s previous two visits to the Pirelli Stadium were also in early April. They lost them both, including last season on Good Friday when home captain John Brayford was not punished for a handball on the line early on.
This season, Barnsley won 2-0 at Oakwell in September with a brace by Devante Cole who had a loan spell at Burton in 2018/19 and has five goals in four games against them for the Reds.
Barnsley defender Josh Earl had an eight-game loan spell with the Brewers in 2021 from Preston.
Former Barnsley academy graduate Jasper Moon has played 23 league games for Burton this season. He had been out injured for two months but returned to the 11 on Friday.
The Reds have won five and lost three of their 12 meetings with the Brewers. Their only victory at the Staffordshire club, following 0-0 draws in their first two visits, was a 4-2 success in 2017.
