Barnsley Assistant Head Coach Dimas insists the side are raring to bounce back from Tuesday night’s defeat at Ipswich Town.
Jonas Knudsen’s second half goal at Portman Road ensured the Reds stayed in the bottom three - two points behind Saturday’s visitors Bolton Wanderers.
However, results elsewhere in the Championship mean that it’s as you were ahead of another crucial weekend at the foot of the table.
“Everyone is ready for Saturday; we are prepared,” stated Dimas.
“We don’t look at other results; we look at our game, at how we prepare for the next game and the next three points to be won.
“The most important thing is that, in the last four or five games, our performances have been good and the players are understanding that they have quality and they can continue to show the fans and themselves that they can be much better.
“Those have been my words since the beginning, that they have to be better and I feel today that they are much better and they will continue to progress.”
Bolton come to Oakwell on the back of four straight defeats and haven’t won on the road since beating Sheffield United back in December.
Performances of late from Barnsley have been encouraging, and the Reds will be looking to build on their last home outing when they came from behind to claim all three points against the Blades.
“We’ve studied Bolton; we’ve seen them,” continued Dimas. “They’re also on a bad spell and we have to take advantage. They know the importance of the game as well, so it will be an interesting game on Saturday.
“They’re a direct opponent and it’s three massive points for a win. It’s five games until the end - five finals - but everyone knows it’s a big game. Everyone knows the importance of this game. If we win there’s another four games after.
“We know that, at moments of the game, we have been much better than the opposition. That also shows them that they are better and they can be better than most teams, but that’s football.
“If you have 15 or 20 shots and you don’t get a goal, it happens. When you’re not on that positive run, sometimes things don’t go as you want.
“They are believing in themselves and we are very happy because the performances are at a high level, and that’s how we want to keep it until the end of the season.”
Victory for Barnsley on Saturday will see them leapfrog the Trotters and climb out of the relegation zone in the process.
Ahead of what could potentially be a season-defining game, Dimas is confident that the Reds will achieve a morale-boosting three points.
“I’ve been relegated before at the early stage of my career,” said the Assistant Head Coach.
“To tell you the truth, I have so much confidence in this team because the performances are there and we’ve shown it in the last games. It’s always difficult when you’re down there - everyone says if we get three points we’ll be out of it, but you have to show that.
“You have to have character, sacrifice and team effort and we have that. We will surely win this game and hopefully have more points than Bolton after this game.
You can watch Dimas' full press conference on our iFollow channel.
