Despite only picking up a point against Wigan Athletic on Saturday, Marcel Ritzmaier believes Barnsley remain confident of securing the necessary results to beat the drop this season.
The Reds face Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Brentford in their remaining fixtures and are three points from safety, but have played their best football against those at the top end of the division.
“We go for the win in every game and we are very disappointed,” began Ritzmaier. “Now it’s time to recover with the next game on Thursday, and we’re looking forward to it.
“We have nothing to lose, so we can play with the free mood. Of course, we respect our opponents and the next game Leeds is a big team; I’m very convinced that we can get some points there.”
There’s an argument to suggest that Barnsley have lacked a bit of luck in their past two outings. A reaction was needed following the defeat at Stoke City, and the team have responded in kind but with little reward.
Successive draws against Luton Town and the Latics have brought encouraging performances, with the Reds registering 39 shots on their opponents’ goals over the course of those games.
It can also be suggested that Wigan should have had more players dismissed at Oakwell, with Antonee Robinson and Tom Pearce putting in some less-than ideal challenges on Kilian Ludewig and Callum Styles, respectively, in addition to Danny Fox’ red card tackle on Elliot Simoes.
“Every game is difficult in the Championship but we need to play in our style,” admitted Ritzmaier. “Sometimes you play in difficult situations with very strange tackles, but that’s part of the game.
“In the last games, we’ve played really good games – the style we wanted to play was very good. We only got one point instead of three, but the performance on the pitch we’ve gave everything. Everyone is confident – you can see that on the pitch as well – and if we keep that for the next three games there’s a lot of possibilities.”
You can watch Marcel's post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
