Speaking after our 2-0 defeat at Swansea City on Saturday evening, Valérien Ismaël believes Barnsley didn’t do enough to win the game in miserable conditions at the Liberty Stadium.
The Reds fell behind to an early Jamal Lowe goal in South Wales and rallied once more as they have done in recent victories, but were unable to make a breakthrough before Victor Adeboyejo inadvertently flicked the ball past Jack Walton midway through the second half.
It was our seventh game in 21 days and Ismaël admits that the number of fixtures over this hectic schedule could have taken its toll on his side.
“I think we deserved to lose because it was not enough to win the game,” began our Head Coach. “We conceded an early goal again and it will be difficult to come back every time from behind because you need more energy.
“I have to say that the guys were tired; we saw a lot of fatigue, the freshness was not there, the intensity was not there and that’s why we have to accept that, sometimes, you have such a game.”
There were flashes from the Reds in both halves as they looked to salvage at least a point for their troubles, with Michael Sollbauer rippling the side netting and Adeboyejo curling narrowly over.
The hosts were limited to very few chances, but it was set-pieces that ultimately proved to be our undoing with a free-kick and a corner the source of Swansea’s goals.
“It was a strange feeling because we didn’t feel as though Swansea were better than us,” continued Ismaël. “If the opponent is better than us, I can say ‘OK, I can lose, it’s not a problem’ but it’s a really strange feeling because if we were fresher, had more intensity and did the basics good, I think we could have got the points.
“We’ve performed very well in the last few weeks and that’s why we are on the way and I’m happy that we now have time between our next game on Saturday so that we have time to recover and to prepare the guys.
“We go again against Huddersfield; we need to find our new motivation for the game but now we need a short break to be fresh.”
You can watch Valérien’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
