Following our 2-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday evening, Callum Styles admits there were positives to take from the game despite leaving Ewood Park empty handed.
There were periods of the encounter where Barnsley looked comfortable in possession and played some neat football but, ultimately, were undone by the hosts’ clinical finishing.
“It’s very disappointing to lose the game,” said Styles. “I thought we controlled it in a lot of parts of the game; we just got done on the counter a couple of times, which is their style of play, so we didn’t deal with that well enough, and it caused us to concede two goals.
“We played some very good stuff in the pockets and our patterns that we trained in over the last week or two; I thought we did that really well and could do it more. It’s just the final bit now, getting more attempts on goal and forcing more corners and set-pieces.”
Deployed in the number 10 role against Rovers, it was arguably one of Styles’ best performances of the campaign as he drove at the opposition defence and found space in between the lines from which to operate.
It was a change of system from Poya Asbaghi, who reverted to a flat back four with Carlton Morris and Clarke Oduor utilised on the flanks, with both impressing against the Sky Bet Championship’s form side.
“It can take time because we haven’t really played in a back four – we’ve only played in a back four a couple of times this season, so it’s a work in progress,” discussed Styles. “We showed good stuff and hopefully we can take that into the next game.
“I feel comfortable there [in the number 10 role] – it’s a more advanced central midfield role, so I enjoy it. I enjoy linking up, I enjoy creating stuff and being higher up the pitch.”
You can watch Callum’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.