BARNSLEY head coach Darrell Clarke heaped praise on two-goal Adam Phillips as the Tykes produced a confident display to beat Crawley at the Broadfield Stadium.

After defender Donovan Pines had headed Barnsley in front after 13 minutes, attacking midfielder Phillips burst through to double the advance before converting a penalty in first-half stoppage time having won the spot-kick.

The victory extends Barnsley’s unbeaten league run to four games and Clarke felt his players stuck to the game plan in fine style.

He said:” Phillips is a quality player and he’s got three goals already this season, after getting eight last term, and I’m confident he’ll get more.

IN FORM: Barnsley’s Adam Phillips (left) was on target twice in Saturday's 3-0 win over hosts Crawley Town. Picture: Nigel French/PA

“I’m really pleased with the performance; we scored three goals, got a clean sheet and we executed the game plan really well.

“We looked a danger all the time. We didn’t have a lot of the ball, but we controlled a lot of the play without it.”

Barnsley conceded two late goals to drop two points in their previous league game against Northampton and Clarke was delighted with the game management displayed.

The Tykes also suffered an early injury blow when former Crawley striker Max Watters was forced off and Clarke said:” Aiden Marsh came on for Max and was superb in everything he did.”

Crawley Town: Wollacott, Mullarkey, Mukena, Flint, Camara, Bragg (Forster 46), Williams, Kelly, Anderson (Swan 46), Darcy, Hepburn-Murphy (Adeyemo 73). Unused substitutes: Beach, Barker, Quitirna, Khaleel.

Barnsley: Slonina, de Gevigney, Pines (Roberts 80), Earl, Cotter, Craig, Connell, O'Keeffe, Phillips, Watters (Marsh 9), Lofthouse (Yoganathan 68). Unused substitutes: Killip, Russell, Gent, Nwakali.

Referee: Lee Swabey (Devon).

Barnsley FC boss Darrell Clarke backs Adam Phillips to better 2023-24 goal tally