A round-up of some Barnsley FC stories.

EARL PRAISED AFTER RETURN FROM INJURY

DARRELL Clarke praised Josh Earl for his New Year’s Day performance after returning from injury.

The defender had been out for nearly a month after the 2-1 loss at Wrexham on December 3, but returned to face the same opponents on Wednesday. He came off on 55 minutes with the Reds 2-0 up, then they held on to win 2-1.

Clarke said: “Earl was a gamble but we wanted control of the ball. We wanted to hurt them where we thought we could.

“He’s only had one day of training. The medical team were having a heart attack, but I am here to make those calls. Luckily he got through 55 minutes and there were no problems with his calf. That’s pleasing and promising.

“Credit to him. As soon as I asked him if he could manage 60 minutes, he said yeah straight away.”

DALLAS NETS IN CLASH OF LOANEES

TWO BARNSLEY FC loan players came up against each other on New Year’s Day.

Andy Dallas’ Barrow hosted Jack Shepherd’s Bradford City in a League Two fixture.

The match ended 2-2 with Dallas winning and scoring a penalty.

Bayley McCann and Jonathan Bland both played in Peterborough Sports’ 2-1 win at Needham Market in National League North.

Peterborough Sports’ next league game is against Farsley Celtic where Barnsley’s Kieren Flavell is on loan.

WOMEN BACK IN ACTION AT CHEADLE

BARNSLEY FC women are due to start the new year with a trip to Cheadle Town Stingers on Sunday.

The Reds are seventh in the 12-team National League Division One North table. They have 14 points from 13 games, with three wins, so are four points clear of the two-team relegation zone. Barnsley have nine games left to play, starting at title contenders Cheadle.

Coach Jess Horsley said: “We’re into the second half of the season and we’ve played everyone already. We can analyse the opponents and know what to expect.

“Cheadle are one of the top teams. They have done really well with some really good results. It will be really tough but so is every game.

“We played Middlesbrough who were top and drew with them. We know we can compete with anyone.”

YOUTH TEAMS RETURN TO ACTION

BARNSLEY’S youth teams are due to return to action in the coming week following their winter break.

The under 18s are set to visit Sheffield Wednesday at 11am on Monday.

The under 21s then go to Peterborough United on Tuesday for a 1pm kick-off.