Makenzie Kirk scored twice as Barnsley beat Oldham Athletic 5-2 at Oakwell on Wednesday night in the last round of games in the EFL Trophy's Northern Group G. Barnsley were three up by half-time, and when Oldham twice pulled a goal back in the second half, two Barnsley substitutes scored too.

The result changed little at the top of the group. Barnsley were already out, bottom after losing 4-3 at home to Leeds United U21, having been 4-0 down, and 4-1 at Fleetwood Town. Oldham were already sure of a place in the knockout stages and remain top with six points from three games, with Fleetwood and Leeds United U21 still to play each other.

The game had been put back a day after Oldham's FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, and Oldham made nine changes from that side. Kane Drummond and Kai Payne both started, because their suspensions do not apply in this competition.

Barnsley were on top from the start. Amani Richards hit the bar inside four minutes, and Kirk shot narrowly wide twice in the first quarter of an hour. At the other end Josh Hawkes struck the Barnsley bar from outside the box on 13 minutes.

Kirk broke through on 25 minutes. He shot from a difficult angle on the left and beat the Oldham goalkeeper Aston Wilson at his near post. Wilson, a teenager, had been released by Barnsley last summer after coming through their youth teams.

Seven minutes later it was 2-0. Wilson saved well from Richards, and Daniel Johnson, the former Preston forward who once played seven games on loan at Oldham, reacted first to turn in the rebound from close range.

Kirk made it 3-0 on 41 minutes, shooting from the right side of the box into the top left corner after Zain Tahir had been dispossessed on the touchline. Barnsley had scored three times in 16 minutes.

Oldham manager Micky Mellon, a former Barnsley coach and caretaker boss, changed it at half-time. Gus Scott-Morriss replaced Oli Hammond, who had been playing out of position at right-back, and Tom Hill came on for Noah Chilvers. Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel also made two changes, sending on Vimal Yoganathan for the captain Luca Connell and Arley Kay for Johnson.

The changes worked for Oldham first. On 63 minutes Hill seized on a loose pass deep in the Barnsley half, strode into the box and finished from the left side of the six-yard box for his first goal for the club.

Stendel answered at once, bringing on Luke Alker for Rylan Brownlie and Clayton Taylor for Kirk. Within three minutes Alker had restored the three-goal lead, his drive from Taylor's headed pass deflecting off Lewis Temple and wrong-footing Wilson.

Oldham came again. On 71 minutes Favour Fawunmi cut in from the right, beat defenders and squared the ball into the six-yard box for Drummond to score from very close range and make it 4-2.

The last word went to Yoganathan, who won promotion from the National League with Oldham while on loan there in 2025. On 89 minutes he finished a fast break set up by Kay, his shot going in off the post. The 20-year-old midfielder had scored twice in the 7-2 FA Cup win over Aldershot Town at the weekend, and before this game Stendel had said the goals were no accident.

Barnsley had 21 shots to Oldham's nine, 11 of them on target, and 57 per cent of the ball. Wilson made six saves. The referee was Aaron Jackson and the crowd was 1,025.

It was a rare Trophy win for Barnsley, who had lost ten of their previous 11 games in the competition. They are 23rd in League One and go to Wigan Athletic at the weekend. Oldham, 18th in League Two, wait for the knockout draw.

“He did a lot of extra work after training, exactly to try to do the same as he did – scoring, finishing with one touch.” — Daniel Stendel, Barnsley head coach, on Yoganathan, to The Yorkshire Post before the game

League Two Accrington Stanley won 4-0 at Sheffield Wednesday to finish top of Northern Group A and earn a home tie in the last 32. Both sides were already through, and Wednesday needed only a point to top the group.

Dave Challinor, in his first home game as Wednesday manager, fielded a young side with Louis Poland on debut and Denny Oliver on his first start. Connal Trueman saved from Alex Henderson and Shaun Whalley, but on 39 minutes Accrington hit the bar from a corner and Josh Smith forced in the loose ball. Three minutes later Charlie Brown scored from 20 yards.

Brown set up both late goals, for the substitutes Charlie Warren on 86 minutes and Charlie Caton in added time. Wednesday rarely threatened, although James Rogerson made two saves in the 79th minute. Accrington had 19 shots to seven, and the crowd was 5,472.

Wednesday are at home to Plymouth Argyle in League One on Saturday.

“It’s tough because it almost becomes like a pre-season game really where you’re expecting there to be little cohesion.” — Dave Challinor, Sheffield Wednesday manager, to the Sheffield Star

Harry Kane will become England's most-capped men's player when he wins his 126th cap against Croatia in the Nations League at Wembley tonight (19:45 GMT). Peter Shilton won 125 caps between 1970 and 1990. Kane, 33, has scored 91 goals for his country and won the 2026 Ballon d'Or. "It's not about me - it's about the team," he said.

Thomas Tuchel has suggested he may again rotate Jordan Pickford and James Trafford in goal for tonight's Nations League game against Croatia at Wembley and Sunday's trip to Spain, BBC Sport reports. Trafford played two of the four games in the last window. Pickford, 32, has kept 46 clean sheets in 93 England appearances and, by Opta's count, made only two errors leading to goals.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill goes into Saturday's Nations League game against Ukraine, and Hungary three days later, with a squad of regulars, BBC Sport reports. Leaving out three uncapped players, the 24-man squad have averaged more than 1,000 minutes of club football this season. O'Neill is without Daniel Ballard, Conor Bradley and Ceadach O'Neill through injury.

Dara O'Shea says he is proud of how the Republic of Ireland squad handled October's two Nations League games against Israel, which were played on neutral ground amid protests over the Israel-Gaza war. O'Shea captained the side in a 3-0 win in Hungary. Nathan Collins returns as captain for Saturday's game against Austria in Linz, with Kosovo at home on Tuesday.

Jarma Mohamed, a 21-year-old midfielder who came through at Liverpool and Manchester City, has been recalled by Somalia for this month's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana. Mohamed was released by Wigan Athletic in 2024 and played for Bamber Bridge and Newcastle Town before Isthmian League South Central side Jersey Bulls spotted him on an app for footballers in the summer.

Aberdeen are looking for their sixth manager since the spring of 2021 after sacking Stephen Robinson on Monday, BBC Sport reports. Robinson followed Stephen Glass, Jim Goodwin, Barry Robson and Jimmy Thelin out of Pittodrie under chairman Dave Cormack. Dundee's Steven Pressley and Falkirk's John McGlynn, whose sides are fifth and third in the Premiership, were among the first names mentioned.

Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli says the fit-again Scott McTominay is in his 'captain group of five' for Friday's Nations League game against North Macedonia at Hampden. The Napoli midfielder, 29, missed Pocognoli's first camp and is back after a minor heart procedure.