Barnsley boss Conor Hourihane rued his side’s lack of consistency following their 3-0 loss to Exeter City.

Hourihane’s men have found it difficult to string together a series of positive results in League One this season, to the frustration of the Oakwell faithful.

The Reds were below-par as they were beaten by Exeter, who claimed three points after goals from Ilmari Niskanen, Jayden Wareham and Reece Cole.

Conor Hourihane rues lack of consistency

Hourihane said: “It was disappointing and we weren’t quite there, for whatever reason. The lads have been brilliant in training all week but, for some reason, we were flat.

“Credit to Exeter because they did their homework on us and played really, really well but for us it’s a frustrating one. I thought we started the game well and did okay but I felt that was it.

Conor Hourihane was left unimpressed by Barnsley's display at Exeter City. | George Wood/Getty Images

placeholder image — Conor Hourihane was left unimpressed by Barnsley's display at Exeter City. | George Wood/Getty Images

“It was 15-20 minutes where we did okay, then we lost our way a little bit, but we can’t keep being really, really good one week and then really, really poor the next week.

“We have to find that middle ground to make us that little bit more consistent because, at the minute, we are taking one big step forward and then a big step back.

“I wanted a reaction at half-time but they obviously then got a couple of goals to put us to bed and obviously the game was gone, which was disappointing and there was no reaction then either.”

Exeter City boss weighs in

Grecians boss Gary Caldwell added: “I am delighted with the win but it can always be better and I said that to the players – we have to keep pushing, we have to demand more.

“I thought it took us 20 minutes to work out the game and be clear on what we needed to do and then, one of our behaviours which was key to the win, was running – and we ran today.

Exeter City were victorious against Barnsley. | Ashley Allen/Getty Images

“We needed to put pressure on their players because they are a very good team in possession and have rotations and play a box in midfield which is always difficult to work out.

“You need players on the frontline putting pressure on the ball, backline players willing to step into areas they might not be comfortable with.

“But once we committed and ran and starting winning duels, I thought we dominated the game second half and thoroughly deserved our win.”

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