Derby edge for former FC Halifax Town team-mates as Barnsley FC defender jousts with Huddersfield Town rival

For Penistone-raised Roberts, who returned for a second spell at Barnsley in the summer, the game has extra piquancy, given the fact that some of his friends will be rooting for the Terriers at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Roberts, 34, said: “I have got a couple of mates who are Huddersfield fans, so it would be nice to get one over on them if we come out on the positive end of the result.

"For our fans, it’s a bit of bragging rights in the area and people going to work and stuff. Hopefully we can get one over them.

"For these ones, you realise what it means to the fans, so I think it does hold a bit more weight than the other games. Not that we don’t want to win them."

Lining up in rival colours to Roberts will be Pearson, who returned to the Town starting line-up recently after a tough start to the campaign from a personal perspective.

Tough is the word to describe Pearson’s time at Oakwell where he was brought in to help step into the breach for Roberts following his big-money departure to Birmingham City in the summer of 2017.

Pearson featured just 19 times for the Reds in 2017-18 and moved onto Luton Town in the following close season and it was in Bedfordshire where his career started to truly flourish.

Keighley-born Pearson, 31, commented: “The derby puts a bit of an edge on it, but it applies to every game I play in. Win at all costs.

"It’s a former club and I didn’t do particularly well there, so it’s about trying to prove a point.

"But it’s another game to try and win. Us as players, we will leave everything out there."