Speaking after our 2-0 victory at Derby County on Saturday afternoon, Conor Chaplin admits it is pleasing to see Barnsley pick up that type of win away from home.
The Reds showed tremendous resilience to soak up pressure throughout the game to hit their hosts with two sucker punches and leave Pride Park with all three points heading into the international break.
“It’s very big,” insisted Chaplin. “I thought it was dogged, a lot of the time, good football wasn’t on the menu but it’s one of those away wins that we haven’t picked up too many of.
“It’s not like us, but it’s a coming of age performance to come to a Championship club like this and win the game in that fashion shows how much we’ve grown as a team.”
Chaplin opened the scoring with his second goal of the season as he latched onto a stray pass from David Marshall before firing low past the scrambling Rams ‘keeper.
It was an example of the aforementioned doggedness that Barnsley have developed, particularly since the arrival of Valérien Ismaël, who has implemented a different style on the Reds.
“We started well, I’d say five minutes or so, but then they got some control of the game,” continued the 23-year-old. “The goal was probably against the run of the play, but the goal helped us at the time.
“The majority of the game I think we were very good in our shape and a lot better in the second half in terms of our structure. We were able to soak up the pressure and play on the counter-attack, and that suited us well.
“It’s good for the coaches; the work that we put in on the training pitch for situations like that in terms of our defensive structure and pressing triggers.
“That’s exactly why we do the hours on the training pitch for things like that; it can be boring at times but it gets you goals, it gets you three points, so that’s why we do it. It’s probably more pleasing for them than the players.”
You can watch Conor’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
