The tea-time South Yorkshire derby sees two teams mired in trouble towards the foot of the Championship go head to head at Oakwell.
And with the high of last season's automatic promotion now a distant memory, Jones has to rally his team for a tougher battle ahead.
Wednesday began the weekend in 23rd place, with Barnsley three points better off in 22nd.
A Barnsley victory would mean the pressure mounts on Jones, who this week said he felt it would be "harsh" if the Hillsborough board decided on a change of manager.
The significance of the fixture will not be lost on the former Southampton and Wolves boss, but he has attempted to treat it like any other game.
"Is this a massive game? Yes - but they all are at a club like Sheffield Wednesday," Jones said on his club's official website.
"We will approach this game in the right manner and I'm sure Barnsley will too.
"Both teams are desperate for the points and the pace will be fast, it will be frantic and the live TV cameras are there for added spice.
"All the ingredients are there and we now need to start turning the performances into results."
Barnsley striker Marcus Tudgay spent almost five years with Wednesday earlier in his career but will not be taking it easy against his old employers.
"(I have) tremendous memories," he told Barnsley Player. "I played a lot of games for them and scored some good goals and I think my football started to blossom there.
"I had five great years and it will be good to see some of the boys but it is work time for me and I will be wanting to do my best."
Tudgay has played for Wednesday against Barnsley before and reckons the local derbies are always a little bit different to other matches.
"Obviously there is a little bit more pride," he said.
"To come up against your rivals you want to be able to walk away with your head high knowing you did a job and got the three points."
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