City make three changes at Oakwell

City manager Gary Johnson said he was considering altering a winning side for the trip to Oakwell and he proved as good as his word, making three changes from the team which defeated Plymouth Argyle 3-1 last time out.

Costa Rica striker Alvaro Saborio made way for club captain Louis Carey, a switch which signalled a return to the 3-5-2 system that served City so well earlier in the season.

More surprising was the manager’s decision to omit the in-form Cole Skuse and Paul Hartley – outstanding in midweek – and recall Lee Johnson and Marvin Elliott to operate alongside Dutchman Evander Sno in a three-man central midfield.

But Johnson sought to justify his selection in terms of volume of games, insisting it was asking too much to expect Skuse to play three times in a week and Hartley twice in five days.

He revealed: “It’s about bringing in fresh legs. Skuse was suffering from cramp and at the end of Tuesday’s game and has put in a really hard shift already this week, while Hartley had to spend a couple of days back in Scotland for his young boy’s birthday.

“That’s fine, because we now have a big enough squad to cope without having to flog people to death. There are a lot of games in a short space of time and it’s about looking after players rather than rotation for the sake of rotation.”

Barnsley (4-4-2): Steele, Shotton, Foster, Moore, Dickinson; Campbell-Ryce, Colace, Halfredsson, Hammill; Gray, Hume.

City (3-5-2): Gerken; Carey, McCombe, Nyatanga; Orr, Elliott, Johnson, Sno, McAllister; Haynes, Maynard.

Referee: Andy Haines (Tyne & Wear)