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Barnsley: Patrick Schmidt called up to Austria under-21 squad for European qualifiers
Barnsley striker Patrick Schmidt has been included in Austria’s squad for their upcoming European Under-21 qualifying games.
The club’s official website Barnsleyfc.co.uk reported that the 21-year-old had been called up by his country for the European Under-21 qualifying double-header away to Andorra and Albania.
Schmidt, who came to Oakwell earlier this month from Admira Wacker in his homeland, has already been capped eight times by Austria at under-21 level, although he has yet to earn senior national team recognition.
Schmidt has so far found opportunities limited at Oakwell, having appeared in only one of Barnsley’s five matches since coming to the club.
Even that was a substitute appearance, the 21-year-old being given a cameo of 17 minutes off the bench in the Reds’ 0-2 defeat at Birmingham last week.
The Austrian failed to make an impact during his time on the pitch at St Andrew’s, touching the ball only twice and misplacing both of his attempted passes while seeing his only shot of the game blocked down. [via WhoScored.com]
Although he has had a slow start to life in Yorkshire, Schmidt came to Barnsley with a decent scoring record of eight goals in 27 Austrian Bundesliga games for Admira Wacker last season (one per 3.37 games).
Mamadou Thiam, who started in place of the injured Cauley Woodrow against Luton last Saturday, managed only seven goals in 46 League One appearances last term, an average of one goal every 6.57 games.
However, he did manage four shots in 90 minutes that day, having had just one in 114 Championship minutes prior to Saturday.
Woodrow was Barnsley’s joint top scorer last season with 19 goals and has started four of their six games so far this term, scoring once, while Conor Chaplin has also found the net in the early weeks of the campaign after netting eight times in 31 League One appearances (one per 3.87) for Coventry in 2018/19.
Woodrow’s far superior goal return to the other strikers at Oakwell is likely to ensure that he will be selected any time he is available.
However, with Schmidt’s scoring return in the Austrian top flight better than both Chaplin’s and Thiam’s in the English third tier, he could legitimately feel aggrieved that he has only been given 17 minutes of game-time so far by Daniel Stendel.
The upcoming Austria under-21 games should be his opportunity to show the Reds manager that he ought to be given more of a chance at Oakwell than the scraps off which he has had to feed so far.
Barnsley fans, do you think Schmidt should be given more opportunities at Oakwell? Share your views in the comments section below!
