Barnsley and Fleetwood Town contest the first of their two-legged Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Area Final games this weekend.
The game kicks off at 3pm at Oakwell, with just 180 minutes standing between the sides and a trip to Wembley Stadium - which will be their maiden appearance in a Trophy Final.Just one point separates the two in Sky Bet League 1, and while they’ve not enjoyed the most fruitful of campaigns, one will be in with a direct shout of silverware on 3rd April.
Route to the Area Final
Barnsley have overcome Scunthorpe United, Bradford City, York City and Wigan Athletic en route to the Area Final, the latter of which they beat 4-2 on penalties at the DW Stadium in December.
Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield United and Morecambe have all fallen victim to Fleetwood in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy this term, and the Cod Army have conceded just one goal along the way.
Head-to-head
Barnsley and Fleetwood have only met three times in their history, with all of those games coming in the last two seasons.
And Steven Pressley’s side haven’t lost to the Tykes in any of those, winning twice and drawing once. Their clash this season resulted in a 1-0 victory for Fleetwood, with Jamie Proctor netting the match winner.
The all-important return leg
The decisive fixture takes place on Tuesday 2nd February at Highbury, where one of Fleetwood and Barnsley will earn a place in the showpiece at Wembley.
We’ll have the first leg covered on social media this Saturday, via @JP_Trophy on Twitter.