A beaming Paul Heckingbottom spoke to the press after the Reds came from behind to beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 in an incredible game here at Oakwell tonight.
After two penalty decisions went against the Reds to give the visitors the lead, Barnsley battled back to snatch a dramatic victory under the lights at Fortress Oakwell.
Hecky said, “I’m delighted with the result and when we watch it back I’m sure we’ll think we deserved to win the game. Adam (Davies) didn’t have a shot to save except for the two penalties, which is really good on our part because we’ve watched a lot of QPR in the first few games and they’ve really dominated teams with their aggression and their running power, but I felt we more than matched them today.
“We’ve got what we deserve but the pleasing thing is that we can get better. We’re after a faultless performance all the time and that could have been and we could have easily avoided the penalties. But we didn’t so then what we had to show was the character and the spirit and we know we’ve got that in abundance, plus the quality in the team.”
The Reds have now scored seven goals in three games and the Head Coach was delighted with his sides persistent attacking intent.
“We had crosses raining in from the left with Adam, Conor’s obviously won the free kick and scored a worldie, and then Josh Scowen pushed up more advanced, making good runs behind and getting the goal his performance deserved.”
The Reds never sat back and continued to push for a winning goal, and got what they deserved in the dying minutes of the game. Hecky praised the squad’s fitness and their never-say-die attitude.
“We did a lot of work last season and Nathan (Head of Sports Science) has been great with the lads and they respond well to him and he’s got a really good relationship with them. The reason they’re fit is just like the reason they’re playing well – they want to be as good as they can be, as a team and as individuals, so they soak up all of the information that you give them at the training ground and they take advantage of all the help Nath gives them in the gym or the extra work they’re doing.”
Watch the full interview with Paul Heckingbottom soon over on Barnsley Player HD.
The Reds travel to face Huddersfield Town in the first Yorkshire Derby of the season for Paul Heckingbottom’s side on Saturday. The match is now a sell-out and an all ticket fixture, but you can listen to LIVE COMMENTARY and a FULL-MATCH REPLAY on Barnsley Player HD!
