Derby County were in League Cup action against Barrow on Tuesday evening.
Paul Warne made a number of changes to the team that faced Barrow in the second round of the League Cup in midweek.
Derby County beat Chesterfield 2-1 in the first round of the competition and likely fancied their chances of progressing against League Two opposition.
The two sides have met once before, back in 2020, with the Rams coming out on top after a penalty shootout.
Tuesday’s meeting was also decided from 12 yards after both teams failed to find the net inside 90 minutes.
Unlike their clash four years ago, however, it was Barrow who emerged victorious from the shootout.
James Collins, Kayden Jackson, and Craig Forsyth all missed their penalties to hand the League Two outfit a 3-2 victory.
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Tom Barkhuizen was ‘anonymous’ for Derby County vs Barrow
Very few Derby players impressed Warne or the fans during the club’s most recent outing.
Summer signing Tawanda Chirewa performed well against Barrow but for the most part, it was an evening to forget for the club.
One Derby player was especially poor on Tuesday, though. The man in question being
Tom Barkhuizen, who is running out of chances to impress Warne.
Barkhuizen started the opening-day defeat to Blackburn Rovers but has since only been used as a substitute in the Championship clashes with Middlesbrough and Watford.
The winger was back in from the off in midweek but he really did himself no favours.
Journalist Leigh Curtis rated Barkhuizen a 3/10 on Tuesday and dubbed his display ‘anonymous’ when writing for Derbyshire Live.
He wrote: “Saw a header saved by Paul Farman, but up until that point had been largely anonymous. Final third work was generally poor and the winger needed to do more. Was hooked at half-time. 3”
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Tom Barkhuizen is running out of chances at Derby
Barkhuizen’s evening can be summed up with one key statistic that should concern fans.
As per Sofascore, the 31-year-old had just 15 touches during his 45 minutes on the pitch vs Barrow.
In comparison, goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom managed 46 touches in the League Cup tie.
Their forward line is one of Derby’s weakest positions as we head toward the close of the transfer window and Barkhuizen’s latest display has done him no favours in regard to keeping a regular space in Warne’s squad going forward.
The Rams will be in a relegation fight this season and cannot afford to keep giving chances to underperforming stars like Barkhuizen.