Barnsley get their pre-season campaign underway with a trip to Rochdale for a behind-closed-doors friendly on Wednesday afternoon.
While the Tykes are playing their first fixture ahead of the 2021-22 season, Rochdale are looking to bounce back after a heavy defeat to Luton Town at the weekend.
Match preview
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With Valerien Ismael being courted by a number of clubs in England and around Europe, it came as no surprise when the Frenchman departed Barnsley for West Bromwich Albion last month.
On the back of one of the club's most enjoyable periods for years, the Tykes' fanbase were naturally disappointed to see their head coach leave for a club who they can justifiably claim to be a Championship rival.
Nevertheless, on the back of two successful appointments in succession, the Barnsley hierarchy will be confident that Markus Schopp will prove to be another shrewd piece of business.
The Austrian is a relative unknown after spending the last three years with TSV Hartberg, but the 47-year-old appears to be an ideal fit to the club's model of wanting to develop younger players.
However, with a favourable start to the campaign, Schopp and his squad are under pressure to hit the ground running if they want to challenge for the playoffs.
While Barnsley appear to be on an upward trajectory, the same cannot be said of Rochdale, who now find themselves in League Two after relegation from the third tier.
Despite claiming 14 points from their final seven matches, the North-West outfit still missed out on survival by a point, ultimately contributing to the resignation of Brian Barry-Murphy.
Robbie Stockdale has now been tasked with trying to secure an immediate return to League One in what is his first permanent managerial role.
Having only been appointed at the weekend, the 41-year-old now faces a busy few weeks, with bringing in new players at the top of his to-do list.
Stockdale's experience on the backroom staff at West Bromwich Albion last season should work in his favour, but he must lift a squad which lost 4-0 at Luton on Saturday.
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Team News
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Devante Cole is in line to make an appearance for Barnsley after making his return to Oakwell from Motherwell.
Given the amount of senior and second-string departures, fellow new arrivals David Bremang, Daniel Jinadu and Jason Sraha may also be provided with game time.
Rochdale used different sets of players for each half of their meeting with Luton, and Stockdale may take a similar approach with this game as he assesses a squad which may feature a couple of trialists.
Head To Head
As far as competitive matches are concerned, these two teams have met on 46 occasions, the most recent fixture coming in January 2019.
Barnsley prevailed on that occasion, extending their winning streak over Rochdale to three matches and making it six victories in eight contests since 2010.
We say: Rochdale 1-3 Barnsley
With an extra 90 minutes under their belt, Rochdale have the potential to cause a surprise against opponents under new management.
However, we have to believe that the quality of the visitors will shine through at some stage, earning them a relatively comfortable victory.
Darren Plant
