Daniel Stendel gave his thoughts to the media after seeing Kieffer Moore score an 87th minute winner against Southend United.
With the Reds two games into a run of five straight home matches, it’s so-far-so-good for Stendel’s side who secured back-to-back wins and clean sheets with 1-0 victories over Saturday’s opponents and previously Bristol Rovers.
The Barnsley Head Coach was clearly delighted win the victory and that was shown in his celebration, running towards the affectionately known ‘Ponty End’ with both arms aloft.
“In the second half we were the only team who played to win the game.” Explained Stendel. “The first half was a little bit different, Southend played well, but in the second half we showed how much we wanted to win the game.”
Moore netted the winner off Alex Mowatt’s pinpoint corner. Oakwell erupted and it was a moment that the Reds’ top scorer received praise for from his Gaffer after a few games without a goal following his return from injury.
“It was deserved and I am happy for Kieffer Moore to score. In the last few games he was a bit unlucky. It’s important for him to score goals, we need his goals in the next games and I hope he now has more self-confidence in the following weeks. I think after Peterborough when he was injured, it wasn’t too easy for him to come back and play with the same performance as before.”
Stendel was pleased to see a near-on fully fit squad for the first time since his arrival. Summer-signing Cauley Woodrow got his first minutes in a Barnsley shirt following injury, which now means the Head Coach has serious firepower at his disposal.
“We saw Cauley Woodrow for the first time, so we have two very good strikers when they are both 100%, with also Victor Adeboyejo and Jacob Brown providing good options for us to score in every game."
“I think we have more options, we can play with wingers to cross the ball more for Kieffer and Cauley, we also have players who are good on the ball and can dribble at a defender one-on-one with George Moncur and Mamadou Thiam, so it’s good options for us. It’s difficult for the opposition to know how we want to play.”
An unbeaten home record under Stendel is something that the coaching staff and players are all acutely aware of and want to keep going.
“I think it’s the basic thing for us, we want to take points in the home games. It’s important for us and for the supporters, we want to give something back to the supporters who give us so much support, especially in the away games when so many come. It’s our task to give the supporters points when we play at home. It was in the last minutes that they got the points, but I think this makes them happier than when we score in the first half! It’s a nice feeling when you score so close to the end, a very nice feeling.”
