Speaking after our 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday evening, Poya Asbaghi says he was disappointed at how the Reds lost possession in crucial areas in the build-up to both goals.
Joe Rothwell and Ben Brereton Diaz were the beneficiaries of quick breaks from the hosts and demonstrated why the Ewood Park outfit are the Sky Bet Championship’s form side with ruthless finishing.
“After 15 minutes, I think we played the game into Blackburn’s hands,” admitted our Head Coach. “They are where they are because they’re really good at counter-attacks and we were losing the ball in vulnerable positions and rewarding them with good counter-attacks. Eventually, they scored to make it 1-0.
“I didn’t think that the rest of the half was so good from us; we played into Blackburn’s hands. Still, I think that we kept our heads up and tried to push each other, and in the end, we equalised as a result of that.”
Carlton Morris’ leveller on the stroke of half-time provided Barnsley with an unlikely lifeline against a Rovers side that threatened to run away with it in the opening period, but for a string of missed chances.
However, after the interval, the Reds were much more organised and restricted their hosts to minimal opportunities as Blackburn opted for a direct approach that was comfortably dealt with by our backline.
That was until Tony Mowbray’s side stole possession and were ruthless once more as Brereton Diaz bagged what proved to be the winner midway through the second half.
“Coming into half-time, we knew that we had to be even smarter in our offense to not lose the ball in those dangerous areas,” discussed Asbaghi. “Looking at us in the second half, I think we improved and had much more control of the counter-attacks.
“Then there was a situation where we had a good counter attacking opportunity; we had a lot of bodies going forward, but instead of us creating a chance and maybe scoring a goal, we lost the ball from the counter-attack in a vulnerable position, where they scored a decisive goal, which is where the game was decided.”
You can watch Poya’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
