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Eoin Toal doesn’t believe recent form will be a big factor in the play-off semi-final at Barnsley and anticipates another hard-fought game against the South Yorkshiremen.
Wanderers start as marginal favourites on Friday night having finished third in the table and avoided defeat in all but one of their last dozen games.
By contrast, Barnsley inched over the line, their final dozen games including just two wins and 25 goals conceded – a slump which eventually cost manager Neil Collins his job.
Toal is aware of the expectation resting on the team’s shoulders after a season spent chasing the automatic spots but reckons respect must be shown to a team which took a point from each of their meetings this season.
“We have probably learned from going there last year in the play-offs,” he said. “There’s nothing we can do about what happened over 46 games, it it’s done now, it’s over. We have still got a chance to get promotion.
“Barnsley are a tough team. They are hard to play against and a real threat.
“Hopefully we can minimise their chances and get a win, but I think their form goes out the window a bit because every time I have played against them there has been that bit of rivalry as well, it’s going to be a hard game.”
Play-off pressure has been much discussed, with fans desperate for their club to take the next step and return to the Championship after a gap of five dramatic years. But Toal says the build-up to the semi-final has been surprisingly chilled.
“There’s no tension at all, this week has been very good and it has been very positive in training,” he said. “The standard has been good and so has the mood in the camp.
“We didn’t get the top two but that has been quickly forgotten. It hasn’t even been mentioned this week, if I’m honest, because we can’t really go into these games with any regret. It comes around too fast.
“We had to put all that quickly to bed and prepare for this game.”
The dynamic in this season’s semi-final is slightly different, given Bolton have the second leg at home, a factor which is being regarded as a big advantage inside the camp.
Toal is trying to treat the first leg on its own merit, however, and feels his side can take something from their last visit to Oakwell – which saw them scramble a point deep into stoppage time having surrendered two first-half goals.
“We want to put a marker down in the first leg,” he said. “We know our fans here are great, so having the second leg here can be important, I think, but we know Barnsley are a very good side and they are going to come after us. We need to be prepared for that.
“We gave ourselves work to do in the last game and I’d hope we can take something out of it. Obviously we gave them two goals so we don’t want to make the same mistake.”
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