06 July 2020

Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber admits his side need a result against Luton

06 July 2020

Luton host Barnsley in a huge relegation clash at the bottom of the Championship on Tuesday evening.

Both sides were heavily beaten at the weekend and will be desperate to bounce back in a game where the loser would face an uphill battle to survive.

Luton, thrashed 5-0 at home by Reading on Saturday, are bottom of the table while Barnsley are one point better off and four points from safety.

With 20th-placed Huddersfield to play on Friday after the visit of the Tykes, Hatters boss Nathan Jones knows the magnitude of the coming days.

“It’s as big a week as this football club’s had in a long time and we have to take points from those next two games because if we don’t, our fate could be sealed,” he told the club website.

Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber hopes his side’s 4-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Stoke provides a wake-up call for his players.

“I hope this is a big kick-off especially for Tuesday,” he told the club website. “We need a completely different mindset and we have no time to sleep or be surprised. We can change this picture on Tuesday and this is what we need.”

Brentford’s pursuit of Leeds and West Brom will continue against Charlton. The Bees have been in tremendous from since the restart, winning all four matches, including against the Baggies, without conceding a goal to narrow the gap on the automatic promotion places to five points.

Charlton arrive at Griffin Park also in need of the points after the defeat at Millwall left them just two points above the relegation zone.

Huddersfield are a place below the Addicks on goal difference and will attempt to extend their unbeaten run to three games when they travel to Reading.

Fourth place play fifth place at the City Ground where Nottingham Forest host Fulham. Realistically, the Reds’ hopes of catching either Leeds or West Brom ended with Saturday’s draw at Derby, while failure to win on the banks of the River Trent would sure spell the same fate for the Cottagers.

Cardiff are clinging on to the final play off spot and could put the pressure on the likes of Derby, Swansea and Millwall, who all play on Wednesday, with another victory at home to Blackburn. Three successive defeats have seen Rovers slip out of top-six contention.

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