Mads Andersen wants Barnsley to put their recent defeat at Derby County behind them when they travel to Crewe Alexandra in the Emirates FA Cup.
The Reds were narrowly beaten at Pride Park on Thursday evening but, prior to that loss, had hit a rich vein of form to boost their Sky Bet Championship survival hopes.
Sunday’s third round tie could provide a welcome distraction from the demands of a gruelling league campaign and potentially generate a morale-boosting Cup run.
“We’ve played really well in the last few games and I’m sure everyone expected more [against Derby], so we’re really disappointed,” said Andersen. “Even though we didn’t play that well in the first half, I thought we managed to hold them off and the goal before half-time was really annoying.
“Every day, people work hard and you see belief in people. There’s still half the season to go so we’d be stupid to give up now. We have to learn quick because we don’t have so much time. In the last few games, I think we’ve cut the personal mistakes down and it’s been good.”
This has been Andersen’s first exposure to a hectic festive schedule and, while it is demanding both physically and mentally, the Dane has enjoyed the sheer volume of games.
A few wins in such a concentrated period of time can do wonders for confidence and the Reds’ centre-back is relishing the prospect of a potential glamour tie should his side dispense of Crewe on Sunday.
“It’s crazy; I like it,” continued Andersen. “There’s not a lot of training – just games, games, games and I like that, but it’s tough; I can feel it in my body.
“England is just known for all the games, including the Cups. We want to win and it could be really fun to play Liverpool in the next round at Oakwell.”
You can watch Mads’ press conference on iFollow Barnsley.
