Stendel insists there is more to come from in-form Barnsley

Posted Sunday, November 18, 2018 by PA

Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel believes there is still more to come from his side after seeing them move up to third in League One with a 2-0 win over Accrington.

On-loan Fulham frontman Cauley Woodrow put the visitors ahead in the 36th minute after latching on to Kieffer Moore’s back heel to slot past Connor Ripley.

Barnsley lost Zeki Fryers to a red card in the 64th minute but the 10 men held on and sealed the points when top scorer Moore added a second goal deep into stoppage time.

Stendel was impressed by his side’s attitude and spirit but warned their promotion rivals that the in-form Tykes – who have now won six successive matches in all competitions – are not the finished product yet.

He said: “We grew into the game. We can press and play better than we did in the first half and we didn’t use our counter-attacking situations.

“We showed a good attitude and I am happy with the squad and players. There is more to come but we showed we could cope with difficult situations and a big atmosphere.”

He added: “Cauley scored a good goal and that will be good for his confidence and it was important to go in 1-0 up.

“The red card, we wanted Zeki attacking more but it wasn’t the best decision, but we changed it with 10 men and we have shown a good team spirit in a difficult situation.

“It was a good performance from our back four, we were fighting hard and defending well and that was key to us winning the game.

Stendel singled out goalkeeper Jordan Smith for special praise.

Smith had only signed on Friday on an emergency loan from Nottingham Forest and this could be his only game for Barnsley with regular keeper Adam Davies on international duty.

He made two good saves early on to keep out Jordan Clark and Sean McConville, and Stendel said: “He did well, we talked about it the dressing room, and he got a round of applause for a good performance.

“It wasn’t an easy situation for him as he only trained with us on Friday but he kept a clean sheet on his debut for us and it was great for him and for us.”

Stanley boss John Coleman refused to be too upset as it was only his side’s second home defeat in 2018 in front of a record attendance at the Wham Stadium of 4,801.

“This felt like a step up in class for the first time in this league,” he said.

“I felt we stepped up with them but with 10 men they were tactically strong and they saw the game out.

“When they were down to 10 men, we didn’t test their keeper enough, like we did in the first half, and that’s disappointing and our final cross wasn’t good enough but I am proud of my lads.

“The second goal flattered them, it was never a 2-0 game and the first goal was always going to be important, but it gives us plenty of food for thought.

“They are one of the best teams in the league and we competed with them and they will be wary of us going to their place.”