The Reds' Head Coach looks ahead to the visit of Blackburn Rovers as Barnsley's quest for Sky Bet Championship survival continues.
It's a quick turnaround for Gerhard Struber and his side, with the games remaining in this longest of seasons about to come thick and fast.
That starts on Tuesday evening when Blackburn Rovers visit Oakwell in a 6pm kick-off.
Struber says there's a positive mood around the Club after a satisfying first two games since the return to play on June 20.
“Every single player is healthy and ready for tomorrow.” Gerhard began.
“We have a young team with good energy, so this could be an advantage for us as the load becomes heavy in the next weeks.
“I think we may make a change in the team to help keep us fresh, but we will see.
“It’s a fluid system for us, with a back three, back four or back five. This helps us to make changes in personnel and our plan from game to game.
“All of my players are reliable," continued Struber.
“In our last seven games we have five clean sheets which is a very good answer for our defensive structure.
“Our mood is great. Everyone is in a good attitude towards this next big game for us.”
There have been surprise inclusions as far as many are concerned.
But of those drafted back in for the run-in, all have shone in the games against QPR and Millwall.
Arguably a contender for man of the match in both games was Mads Andersen. The Danish defender was exiled for a while pre-lockdown, but has looked assured since the restart.
Struber explained his thought-process.
“As I say every day, all of my players come into the games knowing that they have to be on their personal limit.
“It’s been a good return to the games so far for us, but very early days.
“In terms of Mads, we have to understand that he’s a very young player and he’s been involved in a big process, we are fighting a relegation. But I have a good trust in him.
“Sometimes a break can be very important and I think Mads has reflected during this time and has continued to improve his mindset.
“He’s a big player for my team and key to our clean sheets.”
Tuesday night's opposition were Gerhard's first opponents after being appointed the new Reds' Head Coach back in November of last year.
He was asked at the presser whether he felt there had been progress since then.
He told us: “We’ve made a big step in terms of our build-up play, our defensive positioning and even at set plays.
“The team are growing up, the players are growing.
“This is a young team. It’s developing all the time and can only get better and better.
“They have to continue to make steps forward and this will be a really good test for them.”
Despite the four points registered since the return to play, odds on the Reds escaping the drop remain long, and there was noticeable disappointment online from some quarters as the other results meant Barnsley's point against the Lions saw them make no progress up the table.
But Gerhard feels it was a positive result and reaffirmed his belief in his squad.
“My boys will never give up." He stated.
“They have a big belief in achieving the goal of staying up.
“But we need luck elsewhere at times. On Saturday we had very little, with other results not going for Barnsley. We also had a tough game at Oakwell. Millwall are the biggest kind of challenge for my boys, the way they approach the game.
“We have to take that point as a real positive, a good result for us.”
There was no crowd noise piped into Oakwell on Saturday and the boss admitted that was his own decision, made late on.
He then went on to explain his reasoning behind that decision.
“The only one who can give us a good energy, a real atmosphere of support in Oakwell is our supporters. Not a fake crowd noise.
“This is a coaching game for us.
“I can get instructions across to my boys, this is a real advantage for us I believe. We must try and find anything we can, the extra percentages to get the results we need.”
On Tuesday night's visitors from Lancashire, the Head Coach accepts it's another dificult opponent but reckons if the Reds can improve their output in forward areas, then another positive result is possible.
“Blackburn have their own ambition, they will still believe that they can get into the playoffs. They have good players, but I do have a very good feeling for this game tomorrow.
“But we must bring more efficiency in forward play.
“We have to make better decisions in the attacking third, create more chances. This is something we know about and feel we have the right picture in our minds.
“It’s about finding a right balance.”
