The Reds Head Coach spoke to the press after Tuesday night's pre-season friendly.
After overseeing a 2-0 victory against Guiseley, Head Coach Paul Heckingbottom was pleased his side went about their business in a professional manner.
Heckingbottom travelled to Guiseley last season as Senior Development Coach and there were heated words said following last season’s goalless draw at Nethermoor.
He was pleased that no such conversation had to take place last night but reiterated how important fixtures against sides like Guiseley can be.
He said: “It was a good run out and I’m pleased we came here because we had a difficult game here last year. Sometimes we were our own worst enemy with the ball at times.
“We asked the lads to work on things and they did that well, the most pleasing thing was our reaction to losing the ball, showing the players are taking things on board.
“It can be an eye opener sometimes and they try and play good football and if you don’t approach it in the right manner, can be a problem.”
Heckingbottom was impressed by the Reds’ reaction to their opponents’ play and felt it was another good barometer for form.
“The second goal came from a good bit of pressing high up the pitch and it was a good finish from Stefan so overall, I was pleased with both halves.
“Every player reacted well and did what they needed to do, I’m after the mentality, seeing what their attitude is like on the pitch and see if they’re reacting in training.
“Tuesday was a case of rotating players again and trying to keep certain partnerships together to have a look at them. We might have to start looking at things a bit differently in the games now, increasing the number of minutes,” he added.
Recent acquisition Elliott Lee had travelled with the side to Nethermoor but did not feature due to injury. With a trip to Bath on the horizon and two further pre-season matches to play in the next six days, Heckingbottom outlined his plan of action for Lee and the rest of the side.
“Elliott suffered a calf strain, which hopefully will clear up in a few days,” he said. “We’re not going to risk anyone in pre-season, you don’t want anyone to miss games.
“You want everyone to be fit and firing but if we have to keep him out of games, we will but the priority is to see him miss as little time as possible.
“We head to Bath and we’ll be training twice a day, maybe more given that we have gym and pool facilities, we’ll play two games and increase game time in one of those.
“We take on Western-super-Mare as part of the deal involving Brad Ash so we’re obliged to play them, and Cheltenham will be a tough game, followed by two big home games.
“In terms of fixtures, it’s quite a good line-up.”
The full interview with Paul Heckingbottom will soon be available to watch on Barnsley Player HD.
