Fresh off the back of helping fire Barnsley to a well-earned victory against play-off chasing Blackburn Rovers, Conor Chaplin insists that confidence is high within the squad.
Despite being under the cosh for large parts of the first half, the Reds weathered that particular storm and, after a tactical switch and a few substitutions, dismantled the visitors to secure three crucial points.
“There’s big morale in the team at the moment,” began Chaplin. “Three games we’ve been back since the restart and it’s two wins and a draw, so, like the lads have said before in the press, we’d have snapped your hand off for that.
“We set a target of points per game and we’re well ahead of schedule at the moment, so we need to keep going like that.”
The mercurial forward notched his 13th goal of an impressive campaign, taking him two behind Cauley Woodrow in the club’s scoring charts.
Chaplin leapt highest to crash home a stunning header just moments after being introduced from the bench to give Barnsley the lead at Oakwell, but you will be hard pressed to top Kilian Ludewig’s assist this season.
“It was a brilliant cross, not an easy technique either,” continued the 23-year-old. “It was on the bounce and it was an unbelievable cross from Kilian; he’s got that quality as well – he’s got a great delivery.
“I sort of knew where he likes to put the ball when he’s in those areas. So I just tried to get in between the centre halves and, thankfully, the ball landed right on my head.”
With games coming thick and fast between now and the end of the season, momentum could prove to be key as teams at the foot of the table look to generate their own respective runs to boost their survival hopes.
As Chaplin eluded to earlier, seven points from three games is certainly not to be sniffed at, and, while there is still plenty of work to be done, the Reds are in fine fettle heading into the final furlong.
“I think, before we came back, you’d look at three blocks of three games and that’s one block done, and seven points out of a possible nine so it’s a great return,” asserted the forward.
“These next three games are massive as well and we’re looking to get a similar return, so that’s what we’re striving for. There’s no point looking at results we’ve just had, we have to look at Saturday and getting three points there.”
You can watch Conor’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
