Barnsley captain Alex Mowatt insists Chelsea face a much tougher test in Thursday’s FA Cup tie than when the two sides met earlier in the season.

The Reds were thrashed 6-0 by Chelsea in the Carabao Cup in September and Mowatt is relishing a second crack at the Premier League side.

“Chelsea are a big team and we’ve already played them once this season, which didn’t go too well,” the former Leeds midfielder told a press conference.

“But we’ve got another gaffer now, a different way of playing and it’s at Oakwell which is a lot different to what they’ll be used to, I’m sure.

“So hopefully it can be a different result on Thursday night.”

Valerien Ismael replaced previous boss Gerhard Struber soon after Barnsley had been given the run-around at Stamford Bridge and has since transformed the Sky Bet Championship club.

Barnsley won 10 of their first 15 league games under the former Crystal Palace defender to climb into the top half of the table.

They are currently 13th after two defeats and two draws in their last four league matches, but outplayed Championship promotion favourites Norwich at Oakwell to set up Thursday night’s fifth-round tie.

Chelsea’s visit will rekindle memories of Barnsley’s famous victory against the Londoners at the same stage of the competition in 2008.

Barnsley, who had knocked out Liverpool with victory at Anfield in the previous round, produced another huge upset as Kayode Odejayi’s towering header clinched a 1-0 home win.

Ismael is in his first job in English football after previous spells as head coach at Wolfsburg, Apollon Smyrnis and Austrian club LASK.

The French-born 45-year-old – who now has German citizenship – is also relishing the challenge but is under no illusions as to the size of the task.

“We know we are up against one of the best teams in world football,” he said.

“But this is an opportunity for our players to test themselves and to put our own principles onto them, to be unpleasant and give everything to win.

“I know that myself and my staff and the guys are all looking forward to Thursday and we hope to put in another great performance.

“It is just a shame that our fans cannot be there with us in Oakwell.”