Reds Head Coach Paul Heckingbottom gave his reaction following today's fantastic 2-0 win away at Brentford.
Following an excellent away win at Brentford, Head Coach, Paul Heckingbottom was full of praise for his side. A first half goal from Adam Armstrong opened the scoring, as Sam Winnall secured the points, as he doubled Barnsley’s lead midway through the second half.Having been through a tough run of results, ‘Hecky’ was pleased with what he saw this afternoon.
"The performances, on a whole, have been good all season, but it’s about the result. Today, we made better decisions, that certainly helped us keep a clean sheet, that and ‘Davo’ making some vital saves when he was called upon, towards the end of the game."
With Armstrong making a scoring return to the side, he added how pleasing it was to see his strikers find the net today.
"It’s always great to see your strikers score, Arma has somehow managed to hook it in and Sam’s was a great header. We got a lot of shots off today, which shows we were positive in our play and that really pleased me."
The Head Coach was also impressed with the reaction and professionalism of Angus McDonald, who was very effective having missed the game against Newcastle.
"Angus has been great in all the games he’ played so far. Individually, he’s been defending great. His covering and decision making has been particularly impressive and he’s coped with that ‘jump in class’ well."
Whilst Angus was great, the defence as a whole stood strong and worked well for their clean sheet.
"We defended well as a unit and each individual made contributions. Generally, when the defensive unit perform as ours did, you’re rewarded with a clean sheet, as we were today."
This fantastic performance perhaps made better due to the increasing number of injuries within the squad.
"Robbo’s hamstring kept him out, and Bradders felt his groin go yesterday morning, so we couldn’t afford to risk them, but they all stand a chance of being fit for next weekend. But the lads who stepped in performed admirably and really have staked a claim for the game against Bristol, next week."
However, ‘Hecky’ was keen to share praise throughout the squad, has the players on the pitch seemed to execute his plans well during the 90 minutes.
"We knew Brentford were a good with the ball, so we had to be good without it and we pressed well. We had spells in the game where we caused them problems with the ball ourselves. In the first half, we tended to get a half chance every-time we strung together 7/8 passes and to create something that regularly, was particularly pleasing. We continued that into the second half and looked a threat on the counter, our performance today really had a bit of everything."
You can see Paul Heckingbottom’s full interview on Barnsley Player HD.
Don't forget to watch Paul Heckingbottom live on Channel 5 tonight from 9pm!
