Andreas Winkler believes his side will need to exercise caution heading into this weekend’s trip to Scunthorpe United.
The Iron have shipped eight goals in their past two games, including a heavy 5-0 defeat against Fleetwood Town on Wednesday evening, and the Reds’ Assistant Head Coach is expecting a reaction from Nick Daws side.
“It’s quite a difficult situation now; they lost 5-0 and we won 4-0, but on Saturday it will be a new match and they will run more, fight more and maybe they will play a different style,” insisted Winkler. “So it doesn’t make me happy, the 5-0, because it doesn’t show the real strengths of Scunthorpe.
“We know their strengths – we’ve seen a lot of videos of them and they can do better, we know that. The might defend deep, but we will have to be composed and patient. We know we can score in every minute, but it’s important for us not only how we score or how often, it’s also about the clean sheet.”
As well as showing their potency in attack with ten Sky Bet League One goals, Barnsley are the only team in the third tier not to have conceded a goal so far.
It is the first time since March 2015 that the Reds have kept four consecutive league clean sheets and, as chance would have it, Scunthorpe, Gillingham, Walsall and Coventry City (our next four fixtures) were all part of that run.
“I’m very happy with the clean sheets – not just the ten goals,” continued Winkler. “We spoke about our style and everyone thought we would be just offensive with the high pressing, but everyone is also defending in this moment because the ball is in the opponent’s half.
“It makes me happy for Adam Davies and the team because I hear them saying ‘clean sheet’ at half-time, so they think about that. So I’m very happy with the start here in England, and if you come in the dressing room with a smile it makes things easier.”
Kieffer Moore will be looking to build on his hat-trick against Rochdale on Tuesday evening when Barnsley travel to Glanford Park.
The Reds’ forward opened his account for the season and Winkler feels that if the team continues to execute the game plan then Moore will find the net on a more regular basis over the course of the campaign.
“Kieffer knows he can perform like this if the squad does too, and it was like this on Tuesday,” said the Reds’ Assistant.
“He was good, but I think Rochdale were surprised because he was playing on the wing. As a striker, if you’re waiting to score a goal and then you get one it gives you a lot of confidence.”
