Reaction from the Reds Head Coach after defeat to Reading.
Paul Heckingbottom addressed the media after seeing his side lose to 10 man Reading, for their first defeat of the league season at Oakwell.
The Reds Head Coach started by giving his thoughts on the match.
“We didn’t get the first goal, and the first goal is massive in this league. We hit the bar and had a couple of chances, but we gave them a two goal lead.
“They played great, don’t get me wrong. I thought they were a very good side, probably the best we’ve played so far. We’re disappointed because we know how hard it is to come back from being behind in this league. Then we got a great chance with the sending off and we gave everything, but they defended well.”
Referee David Coote had a busy first half, awarding a penalty, giving one red card and potentially could have given another.
On the penalty decision, Heckingbottom said “I’ve honestly not seen it, there didn’t seem too much contact, but I’ll have to see it.”
Following the dismissal of Garath McCleary, Danny Williams was then booked for an off the ball incident with Reds captain Conor Hourihane. The gathered members of the media asked if Heckingbottom thought the punishment could have been harsher.
“We’re not going to blame the referee. We’re bothered about going behind and how we perform. It’s gone, we’ve moved on. We asked for the discipline in the second half because we knew the players could have lost their cool but they didn’t, they remained disciplined.”
After being two goals down at the break, Heckingbottom then mentioned the uphill battle that his team faced.
“We had a couple of chances but we weren’t carving them open. It’s harder to carve a team open when they’re hanging on and defending as they did, and that’s why it is important that we get the first goal.”
Heckingbottom finished by summarising his team's performance overall.
"We dominated the ball which was pleasing, and tactically we wanted to keep winning the ball back as quickly as possible, which we did which was great, but they defended really, really well.
"We scored a good goal and had a few half chances but it just wasn't meant to be."
View Paul Heckingbottom’s full press conference on www.player.barnsleyfc.co.uk
