The Blades won 2-1 at Oakwell in early November to make it three wins on the bounce against the Tykes; United got the ball rolling when Danny Webber's cross was slipped in at the far post by James Beattie before tempers mounted up when Ugo Ehiogu and Anderson de Silva were both sent off for a clash of heads.
Adding to this was a challenge by Chris Morgan on Ian Hume where the United skipper was alleged to have elbowed the former Leicester City striker who later revealed to have suffered a 'fractured skull.' The win looked good when Beattie again found the net from the penalty spot after Robert Kozluk was judged to have handballed and Keyode Odejayi headed home a consolation for the hosts.
United hope to see the team go throughout the ninety minutes against Ipswich Town last Saturday unscathed of injuries and should only be without; Ugo Ehiogu (hamstring), Gary Speed (back) and Billy Sharp (groin) - all of whom are out for the remainder of the season.
Blades boss Kevin Blackwell is at some point likely to wheel out Chris Morgan and Brian Howard against there former club; Morgan, 32 came through the youth ranks at Oakwell - signing a professional contact in 1996, making his debut in a 6-0 defeat at West Ham United in January 1998 whilst in the Premier League.
The defender gradually went onto making 209 (+3) appearances and scored eight goals before signing for Sheffield United in July 2003 having being released by the Oakwell club.
Howard, 26 made 131 (+6) appearances and scored 28 goals from midfield for our South Yorkshire rivals. He was snapped up on a free transfer from Swindon Town in 2005 on a free transfer and joined Bramalll Lane initially on loan in October 2008 and completing a full £500,000 transfer the following January.
Blades Possible Line-Up: Paddy Kenny, Kyle Naughton, Chris Morgan (c), Matthew Kilgallon, Gary Naysmith, David Cotterrill, John-Joe O'Toole, Stephen Quinn, Greg Halford, Darius Henderson, Jamie Ward.
Barnsley boss Simon Davey will also hope that they went through the entire game with Nottingham Forest at the weekend injury free, all though there were fears that on loan winger Adam Hammill (from Liverpool) might have missed that game against the Trees via an ankle injury.
The club should have sold there allocation in that fixture at Oakwell, its unusual to see the ground full at a capacity of just over 22,000 but when you charge your fans £5.00 for entry its no surprise that the ground is full.
Other than the injury sustained to striker Ian Hume (fractured skull), the Tykes face no fresh injury concerns (with exception of Hammill) but are boosted by the return of Keyode Odejayi from his loan spell at Scunthorpe United.
Full-Back Robert Kozluk could also be included in the squad to face his former club; he was signed by then manager Steve Bruce in March 1999, involving a swap deal which allowed Vassilis Borboiks to leave the lane and Kozluk and Jonthan Hunt coming the other way from Derby County.
He made his debut in a 3-2 away win at Tranmere Rovers and had to wait until March 2003 to score his first professional goal in a 4-1 win at Grimsby Town. The defender was released in July 2007 and immediately joined Barnsley on a free transfer. Throughout his time at Bramall Lane he made 215 (+21) appearances and scored just twice.
Possible Tykes Line-Up: Heinz Muller, Bobby Hassell, Stephen Foster (c), Darren Moore, Marciano van Homoet, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Anderson de Silva, Hugo Colace, Adam Hammill, Daniel Bogdanovic, Michael Mifsud.