Barnsley Head Coach Paul Heckingbottom remains impressed with the manner that the Reds are scoring in pre-season, but left frustrated tonight after conceding late in the match. Goals from Adama Diomande and Jarred Bowen prevented the Reds from securing a win over Premier League Hull City, despite Tom Bradshaw’s brace.
He said: “The game was similar to Everton in that we need to be more ruthless in both boxes, we squandered chances and they took their first chance.
“We’ve probably had way more chances in this game but Hull have been more ruthless than we have.
“Both our goals had touches of quality whereas we’re disappointed with how Hull scored but they take all messages that we’ve gone up a league and need to be more clinical.
“We’re scoring which is great, the build up to both was great and they had really clean elements but theirs are not how we try and play and that’s what we have to address.”
Despite putting in a solid performance against the Tigers, Heckingbottom added that pre-season is no measure of how the side will perform this season.
“Pre-season is false, no matter how well we’ve competed, it’s about whether can we see progression and us learning, that’s what it’s about now and getting us sharp for the season opener.
“You’re always guessing with pre-season, you set targets and fitness levels but that’s as far as we can go, it’s now about winning the league games,” he added.
The Head Coach is raring to go for the new season after the way in which his side have performed since returning to training.
He maintains that everyone’s spot is up for grabs but wants the entire side to put themselves up for selection on the opening day against Ipswich.
“Every single position is still up for grabs, we’ve got one friendly to go.
“For me, pre-season is in the way a bit now and I want to go out and win league games, they are our priority now.
“We have one more game to go but then the real test begins,” Heckingbottom stated.
Watch full reaction from Paul Heckingbottom over on Barnsley Player HD.
