The Hatters begin their 2020/21 Championship campaign tomorrow afternoon with an away trip to Barnsley.
Both teams successively avoided the drop on the last day of the season after a great run of form when the season restarted in June.
Town and Barnsley also got off to a winning start to the season last weekend, winning their respective first round Carabao Cup ties against Norwich and Nottingham Forest.
You can watch the game via iFollow Hatters by purchasing your £10 match pass at the bottom of the page.
Nathan Jones said:
(Please note these quotes are taken from Nathan’s press conference on Thursday)
On Barnsley: “Very tough, really tough game. Every time we play them, they have high energy, young, energetic side that can really make it difficult. They have fantastic energy, they have a good structure and I have the upmost respect for Barnsley. It was great to see that they did stay up because when I watched them, I actually watched them play in the FA Cup against Crewe and that was early January. You could see the impact the manager had on the squad and on the team and I really fancied them to get out of it.
“As it was, they took a bit of time to gather momentum but then they finished really, really strongly along with obviously Leeds, Wigan, Fulham those form teams and we were in that. It’s a real tough game to start with away at Oakwell, you’ve always got a tough game, last time we went there was my last defeat before I left and it was a tough game, two best sides in the league for me got promoted that year and went ahead. A side that now I think do good work and it really will be a tough game.”
On team selection: “We are pretty much sure on the way we are going to go. Tuesday is another game which we worry about Saturday night, Sunday and Monday but right now we have a game to concentrate on. We would like to get off to a good start and what we want to do is really be prepared. Tuesday will take care of itself but we will have a strategy for Tuesday as well which we will have one eye on but we’ve got to prepare thoroughly for Barnsley.
Who?
Barnsley were founded in 1887 and won the FA Cup in 1912.
The club won the 2016 Football League Trophy, beating Oxford United 3-2 in the final, and the 2016 League One play-offs beating Millwall 3-1 at Wembley.
They were relegated from the Championship in 2018 but regained their place in the second tier the following campaign, finishing second behind the Hatters in League One.
The manager – Gerhard Struber
Upon retiring as a footballer in 2008, Gerhard Struber moved into coaching – starting with Red Bull Salzburg, originally as an under-15 coach. In later years, he managed FC Liefering and Wolfsberger AC before succeeding Daniel Stendel as Barnsley manager in November 2019.
He led the Tykes towards safety on the final day with a fantastic turnaround in form after the Championship restarted in June.
Main threat – Cauley Woodrow
Cauley Woodrow came through the Town academy and was then snapped up by Fulham in 2011. He spent eight years at Craven Cottage, albeit a number of seasons were out on loan with other clubs – including Southend United, Burton Albion and Bristol City.
He joined Barnsley in 2018 and was their top scorer last season with 14 goals in the Championship.
When and where?
Kick-off is 3pm at Oakwell Stadium on Saturday 12th September.
Man in the middle?
The referee for tomorrow’s game is Jarred Gillett. He took charge of 29 games last season – including two Luton fixtures – and dished out a total of 95 yellows and two red cards.
Played before?
The two sides met in July and contested a nervy 1-1 draw after Luke Berry’s opener was cancelled out by Aapo Halme’s strike with six minutes to play.
The Hatters were victorious when they met at Oakwell at the start of last season, a 3-1 win which gave Town their first Championship victory of the campaign.
Follow the action
The match will be streamed live from Oakwell, with coverage beginning at 2pm ahead of the 3pm kick-off.
If you registered an iFollow account last season, you can use the same log in details to access your account this season, or if you're new to iFollow you can register a free, basic account before purchasing your pass.
You can purchase your match passes for £10 by clicking on the image below.
