The Reds' Head Coach was effusive in his praise for his players following Saturday's big win in Essex.
In the opening game of the Sky Bet League One weekend, Barnsley delivered a performance to warm the hearts of their supporters, playing a man light for over half of the game, they ran out comfortable winners regardless and left Head Coach, Daniel Stendel in a proud mood post-match.
“It was one of our best performances of the season but I think we’ve played well in a lot of our games,” said Stendel.
“We’ve shown here to a lot of people watching how we can play and it was a good win. But we showed another side to our play in this game.
“At half time I said we could still win the game but in the second half it was more important to play with heart. We spoke about needing to work much more together.
"The players showed that and it’s a really good result. I’m so proud of the performance and in the end it was a deserved win.”
Losing Jacob Brown - dismissed for a challenge on Sam Mantom 10 minutes before half-time - could have rocked Stendel's side, but the Reds rallied and if anything they improved despite the red card.
As Daniel explained, saying: “The kick for our team was the red card. We had better chances after that.
"It was a test of our mentality and we passed it. It was a big moment to go in front at 1-0 early in the second half, then you can run easier and play easier.
"This is how it went. I'm really proud of my players."
There have been suggestions in some quarters that the intensity has dropped in recent games, and without the services of top-scorer, Kieffer Moore, the business end of the season could be a real challenge for Stendel and his young charges.
“We worked very hard today and we work hard in between the games too, on the training pitch. The mentality from my players is very good.
“They showed today that we’re very strong in the head and in our hearts, but there’s a long way to go.
“There’s 11 games to go but we’ll only look at the next one.”
