Daniel Stendel insists Barnsley will continue to play the same attacking brand of football that has brought his side so much success in the early stages of the season.
The Reds currently sit fifth in Sky Bet League One following Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat at Shrewsbury Town, a result that our Head Coach believes was just down to an off night.
“I think it’s not too easy to explain the performance on Tuesday,” said Stendel. “On Saturday, at Charlton, I think we played a good away game – not the best – but Charlton played well and won the game, but it wasn’t a bad performance from us.
“Tuesday was very different. From the first moment, we weren’t at 100% on the pitch and the goal after two minutes was, in my opinion, a foul. I think that teams think it’s not enough to just play against Barnsley; they need to play more aggressive.
“We had a good reaction at Fleetwood and showed a good performance after losing at Coventry – Peterborough was the same after Plymouth. Against Shrewsbury, it was the first time we haven’t played the way we can play; we were nervous and, especially in the first half, it was not the Barnsley from this season.
“I think it was hard for the supporters to watch the Shrewsbury game. We want to play better – we can play better – but we need to stay calm. It was one bad game. Yes, we’ve lost twice, but it was just one bad game. We want to show a reaction, but we will do it our way.”
Bristol Rovers are the visitors to Oakwell on Saturday – the first of five home games in three different competitions for Barnsley.
Despite hovering just three points above the bottom four, the Pirates have the joint-second best defensive record in the league, but, with only 11 goals scored, also have the second worst attack.
This weekend’s encounter could prove to be tricky to navigate for Stendel and his high-flying Reds, but he is confident that Barnsley can pick up three points and put a disappointing few days firmly behind them.
“We are prepared for the style from other teams; it is a normal reaction when we play football well with good, quality players,” continued the Reds’ Head Coach. “We need to be more competitive against the style and we showed at Fleetwood and Peterborough that our quality can win games.
“Shrewsbury was the first time that this wasn’t the case and I hope we can remember that we can show our quality and style in every game.
“I think it’s important that we play our game. We are a little bit frustrated; this is normal. But on Saturday we have to stick to our way. I think we have conceded more in the last three games than we have in the games before, but we have the quality to score against any opponent.
“We’d like to win with a good performance, but, in the end, we’d like to win every game – if that’s with an ugly performance then that’s OK but we’d like to play well.”
You can watch Daniel's full press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
