Barnsley boss Poya Asbaghi frustrated at lack of fight from Reds in heavy Millwall defeat

Poya Asbaghi felt his Barnsley side lacked fight as they were hammered by Millwall on Saturday.
DISMAY: Barnsley FC boss Poya Asbaghi Picture: Bruce RollinsonDISMAY: Barnsley FC boss Poya Asbaghi Picture: Bruce Rollinson
DISMAY: Barnsley FC boss Poya Asbaghi Picture: Bruce Rollinson

The defeat was another devastating blow to the Tykes, who failed to take advantage of Reading’s loss against Cardiff City to leave them eight points adrift of safety with six games remaining.

On his 50th appearance for the Lions, Danny McNamara opened the scoring in the first half of the contest when he arrived late in the box to convert a Jed Wallace cross.

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And he then doubled his tally for the game, the season and his club just two minutes after the break, this time heading in a deep delivery from fellow wing-back Scott Malone.

Romal Palmer hit back for the Tykes early in the second half before Oliver Burke and Benik Afobe put the result beyond all doubt to boost Millwall’s play-off hopes and cut the gap to sixth place to four points. The Reds’ worries are at the other end of the table.

“We let the fans down, and they were the best Barnsley players today by far,” said Asbaghi.

“We have to make sure that they cannot see that in the next game we play against Swansea.

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“We will put on a bigger fight. It is going to be even tougher. It is going to be against the most comfortable team on the ball in the league. We have to make sure that next time they travel to watch us they will see players that will go in with their heads first in every duel, unlike today.”

Asbaghi was disappointed that his team let their performance levels drop after a promising start, especially in light of some haphazard defending in the second half. He said: “I think in the beginning of the first half we looked better than a team that was fighting for the play-offs.

“But if you look at the overall performance in the 90 minutes, it was not good enough for a team that wants to stay in the league.”

Goalkeeper Brad Collins was withdrawn after 24 minutes with a shoulder injury but Asbaghi was unable to provide further details.

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It is another blow for Barnsley, who recently lost Michal Helik to injury.

Asbaghi added: “They are two of players who are the backbone of our defending. I am confident the players who came in can have good games if every player is putting on a fight.

Millwall: Bialkowski; Ballard, Cooper, M Wallace; McNamara (Leonard 81), Mitchell, Kieftenbeld, Malone; J Wallace (Bradshaw 81); Burke (Burey 77), Afobe. Unused substitutes: Long, Ojo, Saville, Evans.

Barnsley: Collins (Walton 24); Brittain, Andersen, Kitching, Vita; Gomes, Palmer (Iseka 71); Styles (Adeboyejo 61), Bassi, Quina; Morris. Unused substitutes: Moon, Oduor ,Wolfe, Christie-Davies.

Referee: O Langford (W Midlands).

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