BARNSLEY’S two visits in competitive games to the New York Stadium have been when the Reds were in contention for promotion to the Premier League.

They won their first game there in January 2017 to move up to seventh in the Championship before sliding down the table having sold Sam Winnall, James Bree and Conor Hourihane that month. Four years later they won 2-1 under Valerien Ismael who would eventually take them to within two wins of the top flight as they lost in the Championship play-offs after a remarkable behind-closed-doors season.

Their third competitive game at ‘the New York’ is in very different circumstances as Barnsley will arrive today as a club which is not only in the third tier but looking average, at best, at that level. They are on the worst form in the third tier, having taken a point from six games and are ten off the play-offs.

Supporters are regularly chanting against the ownership while pressure mounts on Darrell Clarke and his players as a third straight top six finish is highly unlikely.

They look like a demoralised group and the gap growing to double figures in midweek will only worsen that. It’s very hard to see a comeback but a win in Rotherham would temporarily stabilise a volatile situation and restore some belief.

This lunchtime kick-off will be a second Yorkshire derby within a week and the Reds will look to start as they did against Huddersfield but sustain that level for 90 minutes which has been a major issue this season. The Reds would be third if games finished at half-time but they are 17th in the second half table, conceding 31 of the 43 goals they have let in after the break.

They still have the fourth best away record in the division but have lost their last three matches on the road. They can take confidence from having the experienced Marc Roberts back as well as captain Luca Connell and Adam Phillips, while knowing they have a very dominant record against Rotherham who are currently below them in the division and also on poor form.

This game is the first of five in a fortnight for the Reds which also includes long midweek trips to Northampton Town then Charlton Athletic as well as home matches with Lincoln City and Blackpool on the first two Saturdays in March.

That five-game spell is a third of the remaining matches and will likely decide whether the Reds are marooned in mid-table, looking over their shoulders, or still in the hunt for Championship.

If they don’t win at either the New York Stadium or Sixfields in the coming week, they will equal the eight-game winless run in the third tier under Lee Johnson in 2015 although that was eight straight losses which took them to the bottom of the table.

ONE-SIDED DERBY HISTORY

This has not been a regular fixture, with the two clubs only being in the same division in four of 40 seasons before this one.

But, when they have played in that era, it has been almost all Barnsley.

The Reds have won the last five meetings between the two clubs which are separated by about ten miles.

Rotherham have only scored once in those five games, behind closed doors in 2020, so the last time their fans witnessed them net against their near neighbours was in November 2005.

You have go to back much further for the last Millers win in this fixture, in October 1982 after which they have lost eight and drawn three of 11 contests.

Barnsley have also won four of their last five games at either Millmoor or its replacement, including three straight victories.

That record should give them belief but, if they lose to a club they generally never lose to, it might add to the idea that they are going through a uniquely bad spell and something has to change.

ROTHERHAM ALSO STRUGGLING

It was also one-sided when Rotherham visited Oakwell on November 8 and were comfortably beaten 2-0 thanks to goals by Jon Russell and Stephen Humphrys.

That was one of just five clean sheets all season for Barnsley – the fourth lowest number in the division. The away end was furious, calling for Steve Evans to be sacked and booing regularly which Millers chairman Tony Stewart joined in with in the directors’ box at one point.

Despite losing at his lowly former club Crawley in the next game and falling to 18th, just two points clear of the relegation zone, Evans kept his job. They then won six of 11 league games but have only taken one point from their last four, conceding a stoppage time penalty winner at Reading on Saturday.

They are now five points and three places behind the Reds, having been nine points and 12 places adrift in the autumn.

Rotherham are nine points ahead of the relegation zone and 15 off the play-offs.

Unlike the Reds, the Millers are much better at home than away with 27 of their 38 points collected on their own soil.

Evans and Clarke – who are thought to get on well – both look to be guiding their team to a mid-table finish having been expected to compete for promotion.

Both are under pressure from supporters so the atmosphere could lurch wildly depending on what happens on the pitch.