Barnsley boss Conor Hourihane's praise for Tom Bradshaw and Adam Phillips plus why key duo missed win at Rotherham United

Phillips, handed the armband in the absence of Luca Connell, scored his third goal in sucessive matches against the Millers to put the Reds in front on 37 minutes.

Barnsley were dominant on the restart against dreadful hosts and a double from Bradshaw helped secure a near-perfect away day to vanquish any lingering fears of the Oakwell outfit being dragged into a relegation fight.

The one sour note was a late penalty consolation from Millers’ forward Sam Nombe, who ended Barnsley's hopes of registering a first clean sheet in 26 matches.

Hourihane, whose side won for the first time in seven matches to ease the pressure on his own shoulders, said: "I thought we were really good today.

"I thought we could have been winning by more in the first half if we tidied up the ball a little bit. I felt on the turnover, we were a little bit loose.

"We tidied up the ball in the second half, in terms of on the turnover and when we won the ball back in terms of duels, I felt like we created lots of chances in the second half. I thought we were really, really good. It was a big one for everyone."

On Phillips and Bradshaw, he added: "I asked Phillo, and I don't mind saying this, for a real proper Adam Phillips, one of the best players in the league, performance. I think he'd been a little bit inconsistent of late.

"I needed him to step up and give me a real top performance and he paid me back in abundance. So credit to Phillo today, I thought he was outstanding.

"He pressed two, three times in terms of press one player, press two players, press three players constantly and I thought he was outstanding.

"He set the tone and I wanted to make him captain today. Maybe it would have given him an extra five, ten per cent for the team and he really stood up and gave a proper performance.

"Bradshaw was also outstanding. A big moment for the opening goal and then he scores the next two, a really good third and last one.

"I'm really, really delighted for Bradshaw. He's come in and he's maybe not got the plaudits and maybe not got the goals returned, but he works his absolute backside off for the team.

"He's relentless in his pressing, he's relentless in his duels and he's one of those players that probably doesn't get the credit because if another person scores then they get the plaudits.

"So I was delighted for him today to get his couple of goals in front of the fans with a good away following as well.

"So I was really, really happy for him because he's probably someone that's gone under the radar in terms of his goals, but in-house we're all saying how hard he works."

On the late penalty concession ending the Reds' hopes of a rare clean sheet, he said: "Two things. I couldn't give a toss about the clean sheet to be honest with you because we all know we needed to win and then second, it was never a penalty.

"I don't want to go into it, but are we ever going to get a penalty? Ever? But it is what it is."

Hourihane confirmed that David McGoldrick missed out with a hamstring issue, while Connell was absent due to his partner giving birth.

"Didzy got a little bit of a hamstring injury in the previous game. Nothing too serious. He's touch and go for Tuesday,” Hourihane added.

"This game was definitely too early for him.

"Luca's partner gave birth late last night. And to my knowledge, everything's gone okay and all that.

"So, it was just too late in the day for him to be involved in the game today. Being a dad myself, there are special moments and you need to be there for your family.

"So that was the reason why Luca wasn't involved, but he'll be involved on Tuesday."