Filekovic wait for Robins

Posted Tuesday, September 22, 2009 by PA

Barnsley manager Mark Robins is hoping to complete the signing of Slovenia international Suad Filekovic in time for the Carling Cup clash with Burnley.

The former Maribor defender, 31, has agreed to an initial short-term contract until January after impressing new boss Robins in a recent week-long trial but has yet to finalise the deal.

Robins said: "Suad Filekovic is back in the country and we will look to get things sorted. He has experience, stature and is ready for the Championship. It is a win-win situation for all of us and it was a real no brainer."

Striker Andy Gray and on-loan Hull defender Nathan Doyle are cup-tied, but another recent signing, Julian Gray, should continue in midfield after making his debut on Saturday in the goalless draw with Swansea.

Emil Hallfredsson is struggling with a knee injury, Daniel Bogdanovic is recovering from an ankle problem and Jamal Campbell-Ryce (eye) is not yet ready to return after being hit in the face by the ball in the recent defeat at Watford.

Striker Iain Hume is expected to be included after having stitches inserted in a cut eye after Saturday's clash.

Owen Coyle admits his players will have to be wary of the example they have set teams like Barnsley.

It was the Clarets' form in the league cup which brought their season to life last year as a giant-killing run to the semi-finals coincided with a surge up the Championship table and eventual play-off glory at Wembley.

Prior to that they had been struggling at the bottom of the second tier after a poor start to the campaign, much like Barnsley, who parted company with manager Simon Davey last month after four defeats in their opening five games.

Robins has been brought in as Davey's replacement and with the Tykes' results already improving, Coyle is all too aware of the additional boost a big scalp in the Carling Cup can provide.

"We recognise that Barnsley are similar to ourselves in many ways last season," Coyle said.

"They are a Championship club, they haven't started the season the way they would have liked, but they have picked up in the last couple of games.

"We went on a run like that and the Carling Cup really ignited our season and went hand in hand with our Championship form. So we recognise that Barnsley might be looking at that and thinking this could be the catalyst to do that as well.

"But I want an extended run in this cup competition and to do that we are going to have to be at our very best."

Much has changed since Barnsley's victory in the teams' league encounter at Oakwell last season, but Coyle has not forgotten the challenges the Yorkshire side pose.

"We had a tough game against Barnsley in the Championship last year," he said.

"We were 3-0 down in very strange circumstances with some of the decisions that were being made. But we showed our quality to come back into it at 3-2 with 20 minutes left - (Martin) Paterson came on and scored a double.

"Really, we should have had a positive result that night, we missed chance upon chance in the last 15 minutes or so. But we know better now.

"Barnsley have changed their manager, Mark Robins has come in and the players there will be desperate to show the new manager that they want to be a part of the future at that club. So we will be under no illusions about how difficult the game will be - we will have to be at our best."

New striker David Nugent will be unable to build on the two goals he scored on his home debut against Sunderland on Saturday as he is cup-tied.

Burnley will also be without midfielder Chris McCann, who damaged medial knee ligaments during the match and is likely to be out for at least three months.