Chris Stern wants Barnsley to take the positives from their second half performance against Luton Town into this weekend’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Wigan Athletic.
The Reds 29-game unbeaten home run was ended by the Hatters on Saturday following a poor first half showing, but there were encouraging signs after the interval from Daniel Stendel’s side to suggest that they can pick up a morale-boosting three points at the DW Stadium.
“The two goals after five minutes was a big blow for the lads and it took them a while to recover from this,” admitted Stern.
“But we’ve addressed the bad performance and it’s our job as a coaching staff to pick the lads up and show them the positive side. In the second half, the way we came back into the game, we created many chances and could have scored more.
“We want to take the positives from the second half against Luton and try to score early so we can play our way.”
After claiming an opening day victory over Cardiff City, Paul Cook’s side have lost their last four outings and currently occupy one of the three relegation places.
Despite taking an early lead at Queens Park Rangers last weekend, the Latics suffered a 3-1 defeat and Stern says Barnsley are prepared for a reaction from the Greater Manchester outfit.
“They’re similar to us; they didn’t win in their last games,” continued the Reds’ First Team Coach. “As well as us, it’s important to end the negative run and start a positive run, and we’ve prepared for them and expect them to be very strong – especially at home.
“They’re very solid at the back, don’t commit too many players forward and are always very secure, which will probably make things more difficult for us. But we mainly want to look at our game and keep the good things from the weekend, play positive and win the game.
“We have to be confident. In the end, quality and confidence wins you games and, so far this week, they have shown a good attitude in training.”
You can watch Chris’ full press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
