Speaking after our exhilarating nine-goal thriller with Barrow AFC in the Emirates FA Cup third round on Saturday afternoon, Poya Asbaghi says the Reds need to be better when in the ascendancy.
Leading 2-0 at the interval and with a numerical advantage, Barnsley were seemingly coasting through to the next round, but a spirited comeback saw the visitors force extra-time before Carlton Morris scored a 102nd minute winner.
“It was a crazy game,” admitted Asbaghi. “It’s one of the craziest games I’ve ever experienced. I guess that’s something with the FA Cup.
“If you look at it; we’re happy that we went through. We’re happy after the first half coming in 2-0 up and even one man more and, to be honest, the game should be dead right there and then.
“But when they scored the 2-1 goal from that wonderful free-kick our reaction after that is not good enough and that is what gives you the bittersweet feeling right now.
“Of course, we scored five goals and went through, but we could have done things better after the 2-1 goal.”
Goals have been hard to come by in recent weeks for the Reds, but four different scorers were registered at Oakwell as Mads Andersen, Jordan Williams, Devante Cole and Morris all found the target.
Asbaghi is hoping that his side can take that forward momentum into the upcoming Sky Bet Championship assignments, while remaining responsible at the back.
“We’ve been struggling to create chances in games and now we scored five goals and some of them are really beautiful,” continued our Head Coach.
“Hopefully, we will keep getting the confidence from scoring goals, but do it back to basics in terms of defence so we can keep winning games.”
Another positive to take from this encounter is a debut for academy graduate Joe Ackroyd, who was introduced at the start of the second period of extra-time for Romal Palmer.
The young midfielder has been part of our set-up since the age of 10 and has impressed on the training ground over the past few days.
“It’s mainly his character, I would say,” asserted Asbaghi. “He’s one of the youngest players we have at training, but he’s one of the players that you hear most on the training pitch.
“So, for me, he has really good character as well as being a hard-working player. I’m really happy for a well-deserved debut for him.”
You can watch Poya’s post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley.
