Kenny Dougall believes there is a togetherness in the squad that can act as a springboard for success this season.
The Reds, currently second in Sky Bet League One, are on a 15-game unbeaten run and welcome Accrington Stanley to Oakwell on Saturday afternoon.
“The atmosphere within the squad has been great all year, obviously it helps with winning games – which we’ve done this year – and hopefully we can continue it over the next two months and finish the season strong,” said Dougall.
“We’ve not done anything special; we’ve just continued doing what we’ve been doing – work hard through the week and perform at the weekends. We’ve been through spells where we’ve not won a lot of games, back-to-back losses and things like that, but we haven’t changed things and we’ve had that trust that we’ll find the right solution.”
Barnsley ran out 3-0 winners in their last match against Southend United at the weekend – despite being reduced to ten men in the first half.
However, Dougall feels his side we never particularly in danger of losing at Roots Hall, and is confident that the Reds could have scored more goals on the day.
“It was very satisfying after going down to ten men very early; we were thinking it was going to be a tough afternoon, but all the boys pulled together – like we have done all season – and pulled out a great result,” continued the Australian midfielder.
“I still felt like we were in control. Obviously, towards the end of the first half, directly after the red card, they had a couple of chances. But, apart from that, we completely controlled the second half and, in my opinion, it deserved to be more than three.”
Oakwell has been a fortress this campaign, with the Reds yet to suffer a defeat on home soil and conceding just ten goals in 17 outings.
There’s a belief within the squad that this run could stretch until the end of the season, which could play a huge part in Barnsley’s fortunes when the final whistle blows on 4 May.
“Of course it’s realistic [that we can go unbeaten at home]; we’re in March and there’s not long to go,” insisted Dougall.
“It’s something that we’re proud of, it’s something that the fans are proud of and, every time we come here, we expect to give them a show and I feel like we’ve done that for the majority of home games this season. Of course, we’ll try to keep that going and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
You can watch Kenny’s full press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
