By Harry Jones
November 21 2025

Barnsley host Luton Town at Oakwell this Saturday at 3pm as the Reds return to league action after the international break.

Barnsley lost to Lincoln in EFL Trophy in their last outing but will be hoping to build on a victory away at Doncaster in their last league match.

In terms of squad news, Hourihane said that the illness affecting some squad members two weeks ago has now gone.

Hourihane also confirmed that Fábio Jaló has been back with the group for a week, however the Portuguese youngster is 2-3 weeks away from potentially being involved in a matchday squad.

Josh Earl, Adam Phillips and Maël de Gevigney are all back and ready for selection. Georgie Gent has also been involved in some games for the under 21s.

All players who went away for international duty have returned apart from Jon Russell.

The international break was special for Patrick Kelly, who came on for his senior international debut for Northern Ireland, entering the pitch as substitute in the 82^nd minute as they beat Luxembourg 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier.

When asked about this, Hourihane said “Yeah incredible. A proud moment for him, his family, special one. Getting your first cap is something that you

 always look back on and look back with such fondness so incredible for him to get on the pitch and his first cap”.

In terms of Luton Town, the visitors currently sit 8^th in League One and have picked recently after a slow start and are unbeaten in their last five games.

They are currently managed by former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere. The 33-year-old replaced Matt Bloomfield and is a young coach like Conor Hourihane who has been trusted to get Luton back on track.

It's been a rollercoaster for the Hatters in recent times, with them returning to the EFL in 2014. They then won promotion from League Two in 2018 before winning League One in 2019 with back-to-back promotions. Barnsley also finished 2^nd that year as both sides went up automatically.

The Hatters where then promoted to Premier League in 2023 under now Wolves boss Rob Edwards.

The Hatters were relegated from the Premier League at the first time of asking, before suffering another consecutive relegation which now sees them return to England's third tier.

Former Barnsley players joining Luton has been a common sight in recent years, and Luton have former Reds Mads Andersen, Jordan Clark and Jacob Brown.

Barnsley currently sit 13^th however have at least one game in hand on the rest of the division and will be hoping to claim a few victories to hopefully put themselves back in the playoff picture.