Following our 2-1 defeat at Preston North End on Saturday, Callum Styles expressed his disappointment at conceding a ‘sloppy’ late goal.
Having drawn level through Cauley Woodrow’s well-taken header, Barnsley appeared to be in the ascendency but switched off at a crucial moment as the hosts snatched all three points.
“I thought they controlled the first half an hour,” discussed Styles. “We didn’t start too well, but we controlled their attacks well. At the end of the first half, we came into the game really well, created a lot of chances and then we took that into the second half.
“I thought we were solid. Obviously, they scored, and our reaction was brilliant to get the equaliser. Then it’s just a sloppy goal, not being set-up right, and we’ve been punished for it.”
Games are often decided by fine margins, and the Reds may feel unfortunate not to have left Deepdale with at least a point for their endeavours.
Carlton Morris clipped the crossbar and was also denied what appeared to be a blatant penalty, which was waved away by the referee midway through the second half.
“I think we haven’t had the same luck as we had last season,” admitted Styles. “Little things like that – little decisions – aren’t going our way, like in the last game we could have had a couple of penalties, this game we could have had a penalty, hit the crossbar, had other big chances where we could have scored and it’s just not quite ticking in the right direction.
“But we’re looking to change that in the upcoming fixtures.”
There was certainly more attacking intent from Barnsley in this encounter as the players gradually get to grips with Poya Asbaghi’s methods.
Styles believes it is a case of piecing everything together to ensure the Reds become the finished article in games.
“We’ve worked on attack quite a lot this past two weeks, but we’ve conceded two goals,” continued our midfielder. “So, it’s good working on attack, but we need to keep doing what we’re doing in the defensive transition that we’ve worked on.
“Obviously, we need to do both sides. It’s all good working on attacking, which we are – we’re creating chances – but we need to keep the back door shut.”
You can watch Callum’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
