Midfielders Flynn Downes and Tristan Nydam have kept their places in the Town midfield for today’s first Championship away game of the season at Barnsley, but Grant Ward and defender Tommy Smith both miss out.

Ward picked up a kick to the calf in last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Birmingham, while Smith missed Tuesday’s 2-0 Carabao Cup win at Luton with a sore back while rumours regarding a hamstring injury were circulating yesterday.

The New Zealand international’s absence sees Jonas Knudsen continue as the left-sided centre-half in the back three with skipper Luke Chambers in the middle and Jordan Spence on the right. Dominic Iorfa and Myles Kenlock are the wing-backs with Bartosz Bialkowski in goal.

Downes, who will be making his first league start, will be alongside Cole Skuse in the deeper midfield roles with Nydam, who will be making his league debut having made his senior bow on Tuesday, will be ahead of them and behind front pair Joe Garner and Freddie Sears.

David McGoldrick, who scored twice at Kenilworth Road, Bersant Celina, Martyn Waghorn and young defender Luke Woolfenden are among the subs.

Town will be looking to win their opening three games at the start of a season for the first time since the 2002/03 campaign.

Barnsley include new Harvey Barnes, who signed on loan from Leicester yesterday and who Town were also believed to be eyeing, among their substitutes.

Barnsley: Davies, McCarthy, MacDonald (c), Jackson, Pearson, J Williams, Moncur, Potts, Hammill, Bradshaw, Hedges. Subs: Townsend, Pinnock, Payne, Mowatt, Bird, Barnes. Ugbo.

Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Iorfa, Kenlock, Skuse, Downes, Nydam, Sears, Garner. Subs: Gerken, Woolfenden, McDonnell, Rowe, Celina, Waghorn, McGoldrick. Referee: Geoff Eltringham (County Durham).

Photo: TWTD

trevski added 14:25 - Aug 12 Erm who is the 11th player?
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trevski added 14:25 - Aug 12 Guessing Iorfa at RWB
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flimflam added 14:28 - Aug 12 We only starting with 10? Must be confident then 😂
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Kentish_Tractor added 14:31 - Aug 12 We have absolutely nothing to lose at this stage putting the kids like Nydam in the team. It's a fantastic way to judge how ready they are, and even if they aren't quite up to standard just yet, it shows them what they need to work on throughout the season to get there. Good luck lads.
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PhilTWTD added 14:32 - Aug 12 Sorry, yes, Iorfa. He was mentioned in the text even I missed him out of the line-up!
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brian_a_mul added 14:37 - Aug 12 Great attacking options on the bench! Could be an advantage to us in the final 20 minutes if we are sniffing for 3 points! COYB
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brian_a_mul added 14:37 - Aug 12 Great attacking options on the bench! Could be an advantage to us in the final 20 minutes if we are sniffing for 3 points! COYB
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prebbs007 added 14:38 - Aug 12 So no Celina, no Waghorn & no Didz ???? You're an idiot Dino. McCarthy out !!!!! Good luck boys.
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TimmyH added 14:39 - Aug 12 Personally rather both Celina and McG start (instead of Sears)...don't have a problem starting our youth players especially Downes who has played well but I'm not sure on Nydam starting, maybe later in the game as a sub. A winnable game but wouldn't be surprised to see a draw.
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Andy32Cracknell added 14:45 - Aug 12 I love the fact that MM is giving youth an opportunity. Would maybe have liked McGoldrick playing just behind strikers instead of Nydam (only due to experience sake). But i suppose the argument is that Nydam will not get experience if he doesn't play. COYB
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JimmyP45 added 14:47 - Aug 12 Celina is probably our best player so should be starting. However, if we are looking good after say 60 minutes then we have some great players to look to on the bench.
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arc added 14:48 - Aug 12 Surprised by Sears, but he's one of Mick's lads and always puts in a shift, so fair enough. Young team. COYB!
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trevski added 14:49 - Aug 12 Looking forward to seeing Downes appear on the score sheet :) Excellent opportunity for the youngsters again. Definitely the best batch of youth players we have had come through in a while (with the odd exceptions like Rhodes). Wonder if MM will do the same as last year with Ward but with Waghorn ;) let's just hope for the same impact. MM is going to have a tough choice when Hews and Adeyemi are fully fit

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Stewart27 added 14:58 - Aug 12 Happy with this. Strength on the bench.
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runningout added 15:20 - Aug 12 looking sloppy
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midastouch added 15:27 - Aug 12 Personally I'd prefer the best attacking options to be on the pitch rather than on the bench!
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blueboy1981 added 15:32 - Aug 12 Kentish Tractor - isn't that what pre season should be all about ? - it is for most teams. A typical sign of dragging the feet again - early POINTS on the board is what it is all about, or should be.
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Lightningboy added 15:44 - Aug 12 Can't believe that we didn't go in for Brad potts from Blackpool this summer - seems to be running the show for Barnsley - would've been a much better option than Skuse.
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Battyboy added 15:53 - Aug 12 Going to be a tough second half I am afraid!
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blueboy1981 added 16:03 - Aug 12 Moncur running the show - Bart saving the day (surprised? - not really) - happens all too often.
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Gcon added 16:18 - Aug 12 Oh Blueboy. Why is it you only pipe up when the chips are down? 1-1 now - You must be gutted...
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Swn98 added 16:21 - Aug 12 Gcon because he knows better than us,surely you've realised that by now!
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Kentish_Tractor added 16:32 - Aug 12 Blueboy - Yes it should be. But when you only play Irish reserve teams or teams from league 1 and 2, while rotating the squad throughout, I would argue that this is a better time for them given this scenario.
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Swn98 added 16:34 - Aug 12 1-2 must be vomiting now
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