The midfielder, who top-scored last term, had an ankle-injury scare, limping out of the friendly against Wigan a week ago. He was training yesterday, preparing for Saturday.

Another welcome bonus for manager Simon Davey was Hugo Colace's declaration of fitness.

He joined in the first team workout, finally having overcome the hamstring problem that sidelined him for more than a week.

Aside from long-term casualties Heinz Muller, Anderson de Silva and Michael Coulson only Diego Leon remains doubtful for Barnsley's Championship opener at QPR.

Davey remains eager to bring in another striker. He was close to tying up a deal on a centre-forward but it broke down on Friday.

Sam Togwell's proposed move to Yeovil appears to be going ahead with the player travelling for talks today.

Meanwhile Barnsley defender Stephen Foster has admitted that the horror show performance against Wigan and the 6-0 defeat has spurred the squad on.

"That defeat by Wigan badly hurt the players. We spent a long time in the aftermath of that game watching the video and we know that we were no-where near good enough," he said.

"Sometimes you do not notice things when you are in the thick of it but we did not work hard enough and we did not use our energies effectively on the night. We have to work as a team and earn the right to play.

"The first game of the season is always exciting and we cannot wait to get going. You never know what to expect in this division. The form book does not count for anything for most weeks."

Coventry striker Leon Best will miss the match with Barnsley on August 16 with a knee injury.

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