City’s Under-21s made a fine start to this season’s competition late last month, securing a dramatic 4-2 penalty shootout win away at Grimsby after the sides had fought out a 2-2 draw.
Our second group F clash sees us make the short trip over to Yorkshire to take on a Barnsley side who have made a impressive fist of things so far in League One.
Losing finalists in last season’s League One play-off, Neill Carson’s side currently lie fifth in the table.
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The Tykes have also made a winning start in the EFL Trophy courtesy of a 2-0 win over Grimsby earlier this month.
And, coming just four days after a demanding PL2 home clash with Chelsea, Barry-Murphy is anticipating the toughest of examinations for his players in south Yorkshire.
“It’s probably an even bigger test of our physical progress because we won’t be able to compete with them physically so it’s very important the players have an idea how to do that,” the head coach pointed out.
“We’ve seen progress in the competition before, but with all due respect to Grimsby, we’re going to face an opponent who got to the League One play-off [final] last year to try and get to the Championship.
“So, it will be factually nothing our players have faced before, and it’ll be very good to see how we deal with that.
“I think it’s brilliant [for] progress because we played against one of the best teams in the league undoubtedly [in Chelsea].
“Now we’re facing a team of vastly experienced professionals who had a top season in League One last season.
“It’s a very different test, but equally important for the players to learn how to cope in difficult and different situations.
“We’ll be giving them all the help we can to try to do that.”
