 After spending the first half of the season on the bench, Preece's big chance of his first team came when he made his debut for the club (and first team in English football for 10 years) in a 1–0 loss against Watford on 12 September 2009 and continued in goal for three consecutive games until Steele returned.At the end of the season, Preece signed another one-year deal despite being Barnsley's back-up goalkeeper.Preece continued to be a back-up goalkeeper and during the 2011–12 season, Preece suffered a wrist injury while warming up ahead of a match against Southampton, resulting him out of the rest of the season At the end of the season, Preece was released along with six other players, ending a three-year spell at Barnsley.