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Barnsley: Cauley Woodrow is ‘touch and go’ in race to return for Luton game
Barnsley are still waiting to see if striker Cauley Woodrow will be fit enough to take his place in the team for this weekend’s Championship clash against Luton at Oakwell.
BBC reported that the 24-year-old was ‘touch and go‘ for the visit of the Hatters after picking up a knock in last week’s 2-2 draw against Charlton.
In other team news for the Reds, Alex Mowatt is back in the squad after suffering a recent side strain while Jacob Brown is close to regaining full fitness, according to BBC.
Woodrow was a key figure in Barnsley’s promotion from League One last season, his 19 goals in all competitions making him the Reds’ joint top scorer along with Kieffer Moore, who has since left Oakwell for Wigan.
That 19-goal haul was achieved in 36 appearances, giving the Barnsley striker an average return of 0.53 goals per game.
In his four appearances so far this season, Woodrow has only scored once, that goal coming against Charlton last week. His current return of 0.25 goals per game in 2019/20 is significantly down on last season, albeit that it’s very early in the campaign and in a higher division.
Still, he has scored one of Barnsley’s meagre tally of three goals from the first five matches of the season, with Luke Thomas and Conor Chaplin the only other players to have scored. The latter has had 261 minutes of game-time this season compared to Woodrow’s 360 minutes.
Mamadou Thiam has featured in all five matches, albeit as a substitute in three of them, but has only had one shot in the Championship so far this term. He was not especially prolific for the Reds at League One level last season, either, with a return of seven goals from 52 games giving him an average of just 0.13 per game.
Patrick Schmidt has made just a single substitute appearance totalling 17 minutes, struggling for action in his early weeks at Oakwell following his recent move from Admira Wacker. After scoring eight goals in 27 Austrian Bundesliga appearances last season (0.3 goals per game), he may feel that he is due more of a chance this weekend if Woodrow isn’t fit to feature.
Barnsley have not been prolific in the opening weeks of this season – their next opponents Luton scored as many goals in their opening game as the Reds have managed in five matches so far – and when the 2-2 draw against fellow promoted club Charlton is excluded, they have scored only once in four matches this month.
Therefore, the possible absence of last season’s joint-top scorer Woodrow is a real cause for concern going into this weekend’s fixture. If he doesn’t recover in time, his fellow forwards will need to make their opportunity count against a team who came up with them from League One last term.
Barnsley fans, how damaging would Woodrow’s absence be if he isn’t fit for the Luton game? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below!
