Paul Heckingbottom spoke to the media following the 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road.
The Head Coach was frustrated at his side not taking their chances after being on top for large parts of the game. The Reds went into half-time level at 0-0, but an excellent strike from former Barnsley midfielder Josh Scowen gave the West London outfit all three points just a few minutes after the restart.
He said: “We needed to score when we were on top in the first half, we had some really good opportunities and should have capitalised on that. You’ve got take them. That’s been our season, not scoring whilst you’re on top is a big thing. Because of how competitive this league is you know that the opposition will have a moment in the game as well, and today they have taken theirs."
Heckingbottom felt that his side were punished in the only spell that they were second best, just after the restart. Other than that one moment, the home side didn’t create any notable chances on Nick Townsend’s goal.
“Probably the only spell when we were the second best was the 10 or 15 minutes after half-time, when QPR built up momentum by dropping on second balls and picking up any clearances but even then we were still looking comfortable. It’s taken a worldie goal from Josh Scowen to win the game. I have to credit QPR to be fair because with 10 men I felt they defended really well.”
Following the completion of the January transfer window, Heckingbottom and his coaching staff now have six new faces to work with in the dressing room.
“With the players we brought in we now have some competition in every place. We have to try and get the young boys up to speed quickly because they aren’t used to the Championship and they don’t know their role within the team, so if we want to make the most of those signings we have to bed them in quickly.
“We’ve also got players coming back to add to the group again. We’ve had two good players travel down today that we had to leave out. Zeki [Fryers], Adam [Jackson] and Lloyd Isgrove will be coming back as well so we’re going to have options, then it’s down to the players performing, fighting and getting into the side then keeping themselves in the team.”
The Reds are now facing a run of fixtures throughout February against a lot of sides around or near them in the table, beginning with a local derby against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.
“We’re not going to hide away, I’ve said openly to the players, the press, everyone, that these two months are going to define our season and we have got to embrace that. It’s going to be tough but we’ve got to enjoy it, enjoy the challenge of it.”
Paul Heckingbottom’s full reaction can be viewed on iFollow Barnsley.