Wilson faces old club with something to prove

Barnsley travel to Bristol City tomorrow eager to demonstrate their improvement to their former manager Danny Wilson after coming out badly against the Robins both home and away last season.

The Yorkshire side lost 4-1 to their West Country visitors at Oakwell and were beaten 2-0 at Ashton Gate, their slide to a finishing position of 19th in the Second Division resulting in another change of manager. Gudjon Thordarson , appointed in July, is the sixth to take charge in five years since Wilson left for Sheffield Wednesday in 1998.

So far, the former Stoke manager looks to be the right man for the job. Barnsley have been in a play-off position for most of the season and though they suffered a setback in September, slipping to 11th place, a run yielding 16 points from seven matches has seen them soar to second.

Bristol City, winners of the LDV Vans Trophy at the Millennium Stadium last season but unable to get past Cardiff in the play-off semi-finals, have some ground to make up. Their last result was an impressive 4-1 win at Brighton but they had previously gone five without a victory.

"Barnsley is now a very big game for us," Wilson said. "If we can take three points on the back of the Brighton performance, it would give us the chance to put together the sort of run we need to make ourselves the team to catch in the Second Division."

In the Third, the leaders Hull City, whose 15-match unbeaten run ended with a 3-1 defeat at Huddersfield last weekend, meet progressive Yeovil with their hold on top place in danger for the first time since their climbed to the summit at the end of September.

The League newcomers from Somerset have won four of their last five matches, scoring 12 goals and conceding four, and travel to the Kingston Communications Stadium on the back of a 4-0 win over Southend.

Mansfield, who meet Huddersfield at Field Mill, and Oxford, who are at home to struggling Macclesfield, are both only a point behind Hull with Doncaster, who entertain Boston, a further point back in fourth place.