Conor Chaplin says Barnsley are full of confidence heading into the Boxing Day clash with West Bromwich Albion.
The Reds have won back-to-back games – including the weekend’s dramatic 2-1 victory at Millwall – and will be looking to make it three on the spin when the Baggies visit Oakwell.
“It’s really nice because, speaking beforehand, some of the lads chat about the game and we were saying how we never scrap out a win and had never got an ugly win, and sometimes they’re much nicer,” said Chaplin.
“Obviously, the QPR one is nice when you score five, but when you score in the last minute the feeling in the dressing room is such a buzz and everyone is on a high. We haven’t usually got those ones so far this season, so it was especially pleasing for that to happen.
“I don’t think we’ve ever not been confident as a group – even when it wasn’t going well at all and results weren’t there. We feel, as a squad, that performances have more or less always been there; there’s the odd anomaly but, other than that, performances have usually been good.
“In terms of results, they were poor at the start and got sporadic, but now we’re starting to pick up and it’s something that we need to continue because we can really pick up some points going into this busy period and try to put some crucial points on the table.”
Chaplin is one of the form players in the division, with seven goals in his last seven outings as he continues to help propel the Reds up the table.
He opened the scoring at the Den on Saturday with a sublime first time finish, which wasn’t too dissimilar to his first goal in the 5-3 victory at home to Queens Park Rangers.
“When it’s going for you in front of goal, things seem to drop for you a bit more and things come off a lot more,”admitted Chaplin. “I don’t think you can put your finger on it, but it’s obviously important that we’re getting wins and picking up points to get off the bottom of the table.”
Having come close to an upset at the Hawthorns, Barnsley are looking to go one better when the two sides meet in South Yorkshire.
West Brom fought back from two goals down in a thrilling encounter back in October and Chaplin feels it was a game where the Reds showed their quality.
“We had a great performance down there but, in terms of what we’re going to expect, it’s one of the best teams in the league if not the best – and the table shows that,” continued the 22-year-old. “Last time we went there we showed that we can compete with them and there’s no doubt that we can do that again.”
You can watch Conor's pre-match press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
