Martin Devaney insists his side’s quality came to the fore as Barnsley U23s triumphed over Sheffield Wednesday in the South Yorkshire derby.
The young Reds ran out 3-0 winners at Stocksbridge Park Steel on Monday afternoon, with Sam Fielding, Luke Thomas and Patrick Schmidt bagging the goals.
With six established first team players in the starting line-up, Barnsley were able to exert their dominance on the contest and claim all three points in a comfortable victory.
“I think we were sloppy in spells, but the quality showed,” admitted Devaney. “I think it was a good experience for Sam and Rudi to play at the heart of defence, but they had a good game.
“Everyone came in on Sunday and I made sure we had a structure in and out of possession and I thought they executed it really well. There were still a few individual mistakes, but we addressed it at half-time and I told them it’s a derby game; we’ve got to win these games and make sure everyone is trying to do the best they can.
“Having the senior players in helps the younger players see the standards and makes them understand the levels that they need to get to. That’s not being disrespectful to any of our lads though, because they’re all good players.”
Both Schmidt and Sami Radlinger completed 90 minutes for the Reds as they continue their recovery from injury, while Romal Palmer came from the bench in his first Professional Development League outing since the opening day.
It’s good news for both age categories, with all players nearing a return to full fitness following their respective lay-offs.
“Sami did really well and his decision making was excellent, so it was good for him to get through 90 minutes and it’s also good for the first team,” continued Devaney.
“I spoke to Patrick at half-time and told him to be thinking like a goal scorer all the time and, thankfully, he’s got that goal so credit to him.
“We think a lot of Romal; he’s had his injuries and he’s managed to get through 30 minutes there. He played 45 minutes last week in a behind closed doors game, so he’s going in the right direction.”
