Daniel Stendel has reflected on his Barnsley side’s 2-1 defeat to Reading

Barnsley head coach Daniel Stendel wants his players to retain belief following their 2-1 defeat to Reading.

Vimal Yoganathan gave the Reds the lead at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, only for a Kyreece Lisbie brace to turn the game on its head.

Reading moved up to fifth place in the League One table but Barnsley dropped to 23rd and are now winless in 10 matches in all competitions.

Daniel Stendel's Barnsley were beaten 2-1 by Reading. | Leila Coker/Getty Images

placeholder image — Daniel Stendel's Barnsley were beaten 2-1 by Reading. | Leila Coker/Getty Images

Daniel Stendel’s message for Barnsley players

Stendel said: “We played a very good half, went 1-0 in front and Reading had not really any situations on our goal. We said at half-time that we should keep it like that, keep playing our way and control our defence.

“But one moment (Lisbie’s first goal) changed the game and, again, it was really hard for us to take.

“Our team invested a lot in today and I cannot believe that it has happened every week. I told the players that they have to believe, that we believe.

“We have played against good teams in the league and, most times, we have shown that we can compete with them.

“But, in the end, some little moments fall on the opposition side and not our side. For that, we have to work again and again. No excuses, really, we want to do it better and we tried to do it a lot. We must keep going every time and be positive.”

The Reading view

Reading were poor in the first half but emerged from the interval with a new lease of life.

Royals boss Leam Richardson said: “What was said at half-time will stay private. But a couple of the senior players said some good powerful words because they knew that wasn’t us in the first half.

“It was a really quick conversation with each other and we agreed on certain things before we left the dressing room.

Leam Richardson’s Reading bounced back from a poor start against Barnsley. | Pete Norton/Getty Images

“I saw exactly what we agreed on in the second half. We were excellent. We looked a threat on the counter-attack every time that we turned the ball over. In the end, we deserved to win the game.

“You always want to improve and evolve in everything. We possibly might have drawn that game last season.

“Now, we want to go that one step further. We want to have a bit more character in the group, whether that’s an individual leader or more collective leaders.

“We wanted to force the issue after the break because I certainly wasn’t happy before that.”