Following our 3-1 victory over Wycombe Wanderers on Wednesday evening, Valérien Ismaël praised his side’s mentality for the way they responded to going a man down.
Barnsley, already two goals to the good, had Alex Mowatt dismissed with just over 15 minutes remaining at Adams Park, but Daryl Dike soon put the game beyond doubt as he wrapped up all three points shortly after.
“The big mentality – we knew before the game we need to have this, to fight for each other and, if you can match this in Wycombe, you’re on the way to win the game,” stated Ismaël. “You have to be patient and we made exactly what we had to do.
“The second goal was brilliant and the third goal gave us the big confidence because we were down to ten men, to stay in the game to score a goal at the moment gave the guys the confidence that we will take the three points even with ten men.”
It is the third successive away game that the Reds have scored three goals, having previously put Queens Park Rangers and Bournemouth to the sword on our recent travels.
Our Head Coach says he is delighted with the clinical nature of his team in the past weeks, which has seen Barnsley embark on a 12-game unbeaten run in the Sky Bet Championship.
“Now we’re taking our chance with the few chances we get,” continued Ismaël. “You have to defend first, to fight for the second ball, to protect in behind and it’s important that each unit on the pitch does his job and it was perfect.”
Up next for the Reds is a South Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, which brings an end to a run of 11 games in 35 days during what has been a brutal schedule.
Barnsley currently occupy fifth place while Darren Moore’s side will arrive at Oakwell in the relegation zone having failed to win any of their last eight matches.
“We continue to move on the table,” said Ismaël. “It’s very important and now we have the last game before the international break but we need to make the last effort this week and we will do. We will recover and prepare for the fight against Sheffield Wednesday.”
You can watch Valérien’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
