The joys of last season may seem like something of a distant memory for Barnsley fans after a difficult summer. 

Having turned around the Tykes' fortunes last term, manager Valerien Ismael left to join West Bromwich Albion and took captain Alex Mowatt with him, while CEO Dane Murphy left to join Nottingham Forest.

But the arrival of Markus Schopp has brought the start of a new era at Oakwell, which gets underway properly on Saturday as Barnsley travel to the Welsh capital to take on Cardiff City.

Mick McCarthy's side weren't too far away from the play-offs themselves last season and will not be an easy first opponent for Schopp's Tykes.

With that in mind, we've broken down all the latest Barnsley team news ahead of the Cardiff clash on Saturday...

Starting with the obvious, some regular performers from 2020/21, such as Mowatt, Conor Chaplin, Matty James, and Michael Sollbauer, have all left the club in the summer window and will not be available.

Speaking in his first pre-match conference of the 2021/22 Championship season, Schopp revealed that Mads Andersen was the only member of his squad that would be unavailable for the trip to face the Bluebirds.

He said: “Herbie Kane came back with us this week, he’s feeling okay so he’s an option for us. But for Mads Andersen, we are looking at a few weeks yet. He’s a young guy, he’s a smart guy, a professional and he’ll come back for us soon.

“We have no other issues, but in terms of fitness, a few players are a little behind so we have some decisions to make for Saturday. It’s up to me to find solutions now.”

That means that new arrivals Devante Cole, Obbi Oulare, Josh Benson, and Aaron Leya Iseka could all feature.

Benson, who joined from Burnley this summer, could be one to watch in particular with Schopp suggesting he could be an ideal replacement for the departed skipper.

He said: "We lost a guy in Alex Mowatt who had similar abilities and Josh can hopefully contribute in a similar way for us.”