Daniel Stendel insists Barnsley are not feeling the pressure as we head into the final third of the Sky Bet League One campaign.
The Reds, unbeaten in their last ten outings, travel to Gillingham on Saturday looking to tighten their grip on the automatic promotion spots as the season reaches boiling point.
“In the first half of the season, there was more pressure,” admitted Stendel. “At the moment, I have a very good feeling from the dressing room; they’re all concentrating on the games and I think we’re focussed on not feeling the pressure. We’re focussed and happy to play football.
“The season is not finished but every week there’s less games and we want to get promoted, other teams want to stay in the league so every week is a fight for three points.”
Barnsley brushed Scunthorpe United aside last time out in what was arguably one of the more complete performances under Stendel since his arrival this summer.
The Reds executed his pressing philosophy to perfection, never letting the Iron settle in a commanding display against one of the league’s form teams at Oakwell.
Gillingham, on the other hand, have won just once of their last seven home league fixtures – a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth on Boxing Day – and sit one point above the drop zone.
“We learnt in the past that we need to be ready against every team – it doesn’t matter where they are in the league,” continued the Reds’ Head Coach. “This is an away game and our supporters will be with us in Gillingham and we want to win this game. We’re second in the table, we want to defend this position and we need three points.
“We have the same confidence away from home that we do at home; it’s not easy, but what I said at the start of the season was that we need more experience and I think we have that. We have more power and the team is closer than before.
“It’s good for us when we concentrate on our own game. We know what was expected of us at Oxford, but I think we prepared too much for them and not on our own game. This was an experience, not only for the squad, but also for us on the coaching staff and we said after the game that we’d concentrate more on our own game to try and win every game.”
You can watch Daniel’s full press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
