Head Coach, Gerhard Struber was pleased with the efforts of his improving Reds side as they left Wales with a valuable point and spoke of the 'development' of his process and confidence within the Barnsley camp.
In the final fixture of 2019, Barnsley ended the year as they’d started it, with a goalless draw away from home. Against a Swansea City side pushing for a top-six position, the Reds were good value for a share of the spoils.
The Reds’ Head Coach believes the hard work displayed at the Liberty Stadium paid dividends.
“Our teamwork was outstanding today,” Struber told us after the 0-0 draw.
“It is not easy to play here against Swansea with their quality. They are a top team and can hurt you with their forward players.
“So I’m happy with a very important point for us.”
Barnsley have picked up 12 points over the last four weeks to propel themselves from the bottom of the table up to 22nd and are currently only inside the bottom by virtue of goal difference.
Struber feels satisfied with what has been a hectic start to his tenure, and praised the youngsters at the club who’ve really stepped up to the plate for the Reds.
He told us: “Every point we get in our situation is very, very important and now we have the feeling that we can pick up points away from home, with this and how we performed at Millwall also.
“Sometimes we can win and sometimes we can draw like this, and I am very happy with both. But now we have to rest, recharge our batteries because the next game is so soon.
“It’s a big challenge for my players with so many games during this Christmas period and the young boys especially are facing a totally different situation.
“But they are learning and growing in this situation and when we get points it shows them they can do it, which is massive for their development and important for us and our process.”
With improved results comes increased belief and optimism.
The Head Coach says that getting out of the relegation zone remains the goal in the short-term and that with confidence flowing amongst his squad of players, that he hopes for another positive away display when the Reds kick off a new year at Pride Park on Thursday evening.
“We need more points in the next games and I hope we can come out of the relegation zone soon.
“To be level with Stoke is very good for us, it’s a great feeling when we get these big points. We are getting closer to where we need to be.
“The self-confidence is growing and growing, we go into the next game in Derby full of confidence and hopefully we can go and get another good result.”
The Reds were backed by over 500 supporters on Sunday afternoon in Swansea and Gerhard was quick to pay respects to their efforts, aware of the support that he and the squad are receiving and acknowledging that to have everyone pulling in the right direction could be critical in this battle for Championship survival.
The boss ended by telling us: “Barnsley looks like a family again now with the fans, the staff and the team. We’re standing shoulder to shoulder and that’s what we need in this situation.
“I am so happy and proud that so many of our supporters came all the way to Swansea to support us, right after Christmas and I hope they go home happy with our performance.”
Get your tickets for our big game at Derby County by clicking HERE.
