The live televised clash comes with both Nottingham Forest and Leicester coming off the back of damaging league defeats which left the Reds stuck in the Championship relegation zone and the Foxes in danger of losing touch with the play-off places.
Barnsley ran out victors at the King Power Stadium after which manager Nigel Pearson attempted to play down expectations at the club.
"They were better than us and that maybe shows us where we are as a club. The expectations are high, of course, but our inability to beat them or create enough goalscoring opportunities was a real problem for us.
"The squad is not as big as people think it is. I hope to rectify that in this window, if we can do business."
For Steve Cotterill the game comes in between dates with the Championship's top two and a trip to West Ham at the weekend is clearly his top priority after a defeat by Southampton that had few redeeming features for anyone of a Forest persuasion.