Crawleyvs.Barnsley

The hosts suffered a defeat last weekend after winning their first two outings, while their visitors played out a draw and bounced back with a midweek EFL Cup victory.

Match preview

Crawley Town return to the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday aiming to rebound and continue an impressive start to their League One season following their promotion through the League Two playoffs last time around.

They enjoyed a seamless transition in the opening weeks of the campaign under the management of Scott Lindsey, kicking off with back-to-back victories having beaten Blackpool 2-1 on the opening day and Cambridge United 1-0 away from home.

Then following an EFL Trophy penalty-shootout triumph over Brighton & Hove Albion Under-21s, the Red Devils faced a tough trip to Wigan Athletic last weekend and saw their perfect start ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat, as a first-half Joy Mukena own goal made the only difference between the sides.

Their busy start continued in an EFL Cup second-round tie with Brighton & Hove Albion at the American Express Stadium on Tuesday, and Lindsey's men dropped out following a 4-0 defeat as Simon Adingra opened the scoring on the half-hour mark and Jeremy Sarmiento doubled the lead at the beginning of the second half, before Adam Webster and Mark O'Mahony got their names on the scoresheet in the final 10 minutes.

With plenty of positives to take from their start to life back in League One and their focus fully back on their third-tier pursuits, Crawley Town will set out to bounce back on Saturday and put another notch in their wins column.

Their visitors, meanwhile, travel south in search of a return to winning ways of their own in England's third tier, following an impressive cup victory on Tuesday.

Aiming to go one better than last season's playoff disappointment and make a return to the Championship at the third time of asking under the new management of Darrell Clarke this term, Barnsley have certainly experienced a mixed start, beginning with a home defeat to Mansfield Town before putting their first victory on the board by beating Lincoln City 2-1 away from home.

Then on the back of an EFL Trophy defeat to Manchester United Under-21s, the Yorkshire outfit set out to make it back-to-back three-point hauls at home to Northampton Town last Saturday, and despite leading 2-0 through Max Watters and Adam Phillips, they had to settle for a share of the spoils as Liam McCarron pulled one back for the visitors and Jack Baldwin levelled the game 12 minutes from time.

Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United then visited Oakwell for an EFL Cup second-round tie on Tuesday, and Clarke's side would rebuild confidence with a 1-0 victory to book a third-round place, having stood strong throughout the second half against second-tier opposition after Watters opened the scoring in the 52nd minute.

With plenty of optimism to take from that outing and the need to put last weekend's disappointment behind them, Barnsley will go in search of a three-point haul on Saturday in Sussex as they bid to join the frontrunners early on in League One.

Crawley Town League One form:

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Crawley Town form (all competitions):

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Barnsley League One form:

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Barnsley form (all competitions):

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Team News

Scott Lindsey only made one change to his Crawley Town side from last weekend's 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic to their midweek EFL Cup tie with Brighton, and we should see a similar starting XI on Saturday in their 3-4-2-1 setup.

Joy Mukena and summer signings Toby Mullarkey and Josh Flint are bound to line up in an unaltered back three, while Jay Williams and Max Anderson will hope to continue in the midfield despite competition from Panutche Camara.

Ade Adeyemo should return to the attack after his substitute appearance on Tuesday, likely joining Ronan Darcy in support of lone striker Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.

Darrell Clarke should field a similar Barnsley starting XI to the one which starred in Tuesday's 1-0 EFL Cup victory over Sheffield United, although Sam Cosgrove is in line to return up front after missing that game due to a slight injury concern.

He could rejoin Max Watters, who has scored in back-to-back matches heading into the weekend, while Adam Phillips will offer further attacking support from the midfield.

Behind him, Jon Russell may join key man Luca Connell in the engine room from the outset, while Mael De Gevigney, Marc Roberts and Donovan Pines will likely line up in a back three.

Crawley Town possible starting lineup:

Wollacott; Mullarkey, Mukena, Flint; Quitirna, Williams, Camara, Kelly; Adeyemo, Darcy; Hepburn-Murphy

Barnsley possible starting lineup:

Slonina; De Gevigney, Roberts, Pines; O'Keefe, Connell, Russell, Earl; Phillips; Cosgrove, Watters

We say: Crawley Town 1-2 Barnsley

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