Preston North End travel to South Yorkshire for their final match of 2008 aiming to get themselves back into the play-off zone. Sunday's match at Barnsley will be in stark contrast to their first game of 2008, also in South Yorkshire, when a defeat at Sheffield Wednesday left them bottom of the Championship table.
Both Preston and Barnsley enjoyed Boxing Day victories, though the win for Simon Davey's Tykes at high-flying Burnley was probably the most impressive. That win at Turf Moor took Davey's men to 15th in the table but more significantly for the Lilywhites it put PNE within three points of the Clarets. If results go North End's way on Sunday then Preston could realistically move into fourth spot in the table.
The Lilywhites will not find things easy against the Tykes at Oakwell, Alan Irvine's men have found results on the road hard to come by in recent months and were made to work hard by Barnsley when Preston won 2-1 at Deepdale in late November.
North End have won two of their last four visits to Barnsley, the most recent a 1-0 win in January 2007. Last season the scoreline was 1-0 to Davey's men, however only four players from Boxing Day's win over Derby were involved in that defeat and as we know, Preston travel to South Yorkshire chasing promotion rather than battling against relegation.
THE MANAGER - Simon Davey
If Alan Irvine needs any advice on how to beat Liverpool next Saturday he could do well to consult his opposite number this weekend. Davey masterminded an amazing FA Cup win at Anfield in last season's competition and took the South Yorkshire club to within 90 minutes of an FA Cup Final appearance.
That cup run was a magnificent achievement for Davey and Barnsley, but alongside that the Welshman has also steered the Tykes clear of relegation twice since being appointed boss in November 2006.
A former Swansea, Carlisle and Preston North End midfielder, Davey will be best remembered to PNE fans for being a part of Gary Peters' Third Division Championship winning side of 95/96. But the popular player's career was cut short whilst with Preston and from there he was offered the opportunity of coaching Preston's youngsters by David Moyes.
Alongside Ryan Kidd the pair took to the role of developing Preston's future stars before being surprisingly replaced when Billy Davies took charge of the club. Davey's reputation in the game soon earned him another opportunity when he was made Barnsley's Academy boss and when Andy Ritchie departed Oakwell after a poor start in the 06/07 campaign, Davey was appointed caretaker boss before being permanantly installed. Davey signed a four year contract at Oakwell in December 2007.
Speaking after Boxing Day's impressive 2-1 win at Turf Moor, Davey said: "It was a great result and we have done the double over them when they have got to the semi-final of a cup and are in the top four.
"I said to the players before the game that we are the only team to beat them in recent weeks and that includes Chelsea and Arsenal. We thoroughly deserved it and had to withstand some pressure but you have to take the chances when they come and we did."
LAST MATCH - Burnley 1 Barnsley 2 (McCann 38 - Cureton 6; McCann 67 og)
Chris McCann grabbed his fourth goal of the season for the Clarets but it was his own goal midway through the second half which settled this match.
The Irish midfielder had grabbed an equaliser for Burnley seven minutes before the break when he converted Robbie Blake's cross but the joy turned to pain in the 67th minute when he diverted Jamal Campbell-Ryce's cross into his own net.
The Tykes had got off to the perfect start at Burnley when after only six minutes on-loan Norwich striker Jamie Cureton grabbed his first goal for his adopted club with a superb strike to silence the home crowd.
Barnsley: Muller, Van Homoet, Foster, Moore, Kozluk, Campbell-Ryce, Hassell, De Silva, Leon (Colace 58), Cureton (Odejayi 82), Macken (Rigters 72). Subs Not Used: El Haimour, Guedes.
LATEST NEWS - Davey The Gambler
Barnsley boss Simon Davey will gamble on an unproven striker when the January transfer window opens.
The Welshman has a reputation of bringing new blood to the Championship, casting his net all over Europe and into the lower leagues of the domestic game. And with key striker Iain Hume ruled out for some time with a fractured skull, Davey told BBC Radio Sheffield that he will once again have to take a calculated risk as he looks to turnaround the club's goalscoring form.
"You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realise the best strikers in the division won't come to us," Davey said.
"In the division below, everybody is fighting for the likes of Matty Fryatt. So you have to cast your net further. Sometimes you have to gamble and I've been lucky with [owner] Patrick [Cryne] because he trusts my gambling."
COMMENTARY
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