Villa travel to take on the Tykes at Oakwell on Tuesday night.
Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom has admitted that he is wary of the pace that Tuesday’s opponents Aston Villa have in their team, suggesting that they have the attacking players to score a goal “in the blink of an eye”, as quoted on Villa’s official website.
Villa travel to Yorkshire to take on the Tykes at Oakwell on Tuesday night looking for a first win since 13 August after scoring late to rescue a point at home to high-flying Newcastle United on Saturday evening.
Roberto di Matteo’s side have struggled to get going since their relegation and though they have lost just twice in the Championship in their first nine games, the division’s draw specialists find themselves down in 17th with just nine points.
Both of Villa’s league defeats this season have come away from home, at Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of the season and Bristol City a month ago, and they are without an away win since February.
However, Heckingbottom is fully aware of the threat that Villa will pose to his side on Tuesday, and stressed that they have the pace and ability to score a goal out of nothing at any time.
The Barnsley boss said, as quoted on Villa’s website: “They’ve got players and staff with lots of experience and quality – and they can score a goal in the blink of an eye.
“Regardless of how well teams play against them, they pose a real goal threat with the players they have on the pitch.
“They’ve got tremendous pace in the team, so again regardless of how they are playing they are a threat on the break and in one-on-one situations.”
Villa certainly have a raft of attacking talent, boasting forward stars such as Ross McCormack, Rudy Gestede, Jonathan Kodjia, Jordan Ayew, and Jack Grealish in their squad.
They have not been able to make full use of those options so far, scoring just nine times in the league despite creating one of the highest tallies of chances in the league.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
