Following our 1-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers on Saturday afternoon, Poya Asbaghi was delighted with his side’s ability to put in a complete performance over the full 90 minutes.
There have been glimpses in past outings that the Reds were gradually starting to gel, but with no reward. However, this win against a high-flying QPR team was richly deserved for the overall display that will provide renewed confidence and belief amongst the squad.
“Of course, we’re really happy for the three points,” began Asbaghi. “It was about time that we could show that we can win a game in this league. I think the way we won makes me happy.
“The first half was more even, and they were allowed to play through us more times than I would like, but I think the second half is definitely the best half from us – a half where I feel that we are the better team.
“We were pressing much better in the second half and earning some good counter-attacks and good finishes, and in the end, Dom scores a really good goal and from there we defended the lead in a good way.
“So, in terms of performance, I really felt it was good enough to win and we won against a team that was on a good run; they were seven games unbeaten and near the top of the Championship, and that shows as well that when we do these performances that we can step up and challenge the best teams in this league.”
Barnsley registered 19 efforts in a game they largely dominated from start to finish, with Carlton Morris, Amine Bassi, Callum Styles, Jordan Williams and Claudio Gomes all coming close to scoring.
Eventually, it was Domingos Quina who made the telling contribution as he let fly from 20-yards to bag his first goal for the club since joining on loan from Watford on deadline day.
“I think overall that we made more finishes than we have done in a long time,” discussed Asbaghi. “Maybe all the finishes were not five or ten metres from the goalkeeper, but we were trying to finish the attacks to create some momentum and answer questions that you will not score goals if you do not finish, but as well make sure they do not counter-attack on us.
“I thought we did that well and, as well, we were waiting for one of those finishes to go in the goal. I think we had some good moments to even take the lead earlier but, in the end, Dom stepped forward and did it really well.”
With other teams at the foot of the table falling to defeat, the gap to safety has been cut to five points with 16 games remaining.
This victory against promotion chasing QPR will provide a timely morale booster for the Reds, and Asbaghi is hoping we can carry that into our next Sky Bet Championship assignment at Coventry City.
“There’s still a lot of games left in the season,” insisted our Head Coach. “Let’s take it from here; we won three points, but I hope more than the three points that we can win even more confidence.
“We did a good performance against a really good team, and I’m really hoping we can use this energy from the game and the supporters after the game to do just as good a performance against Coventry next week.”
You can watch Poya’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
