Barnsley: ‘Someone told me on minute 25 that we would lose this game 2-1’ admits Poya Asbaghi

BarnsLey boss Poya Asbaghi saw plenty of positives in his side’s 2-1 defeat at Preston North End.
Poya Asbaghi. Picture: Bruce RollinsonPoya Asbaghi. Picture: Bruce Rollinson
Poya Asbaghi. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

But the Championship table makes for grim reading for Tykes supporters this morning, with the Oakwell club sat eight points adrift of safety and fourth-from-bottom Reading.

Preston made a fast start and could have scored in the first few minutes when Daniel Johnson was free in front of goal but blazed over from 10 yards.

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Barnsley were also good value and hit the crossbar through Cauley Woodrow, while Carlton Morris’s poor pass cost Clarke Oduor an almost certain goal.

Alan Browne and Woodrow exchanged goals but Preston went on the front foot late on, with Johnson keeping his cool to slot under the keeper.

The result lifts North End to 14th, while Barnsley – still adjusting to life under Asbaghi – are deep in trouble and are now eight points from safety.

Asbaghi said: “Someone told me on minute 25 that we would lose this game 2-1.

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“But even though we had chances at the start, we hit the crossbar, Preston came back into the game more and more and took over in the first half. We lost a little bit of our defensive structure and struggled a little bit.

“At the end of the first half we got back into the game and created more chances again. Coming into half-time we talked about how we needed to be a bit more compact in our defending.

“When we went out in the second half we had a good start. We conceded a goal that collectively we could have protected Brad Collins better.

“But our reaction after that was brilliant. So if someone had told me after we scored the equaliser that this game would have been a loss against Preston I would not have believed them.

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“It felt that we were going to be the ones that won. Then they got their free-kick which they used well and made it 2-1. So it was a massive blow for us.”

Ryan Lowe believes Preston have already turned a corner after his first game.

“I thought the lads were fantastic from front to back and back to front,” said Preston’s new boss. “They played some lovely football against a good footballing team like Barnsley and I’m very pleased to get the win.

“I thought we were a little bit cagey for the first 10 or 15 minutes.

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“A new manager comes into the building and stamps his authority about how we want to play, but I thought the minute we got into the rhythm and the minute we started going forward we looked like a real threat.”

Preston North End: Iversen, van den Berg, Bauer, Hughes, McCann (Ledson 70), Browne, Whiteman, Earl, Johnson (Potts 90), Maguire (Sinclair 70), Jakobsen. Unused substitutes: Cunningham, Lindsay, Rafferty, Hudson.

Barnsley: Collins, Helik, Andersen, Kitching, Brittain, Palmer, Gomes, Styles (Benson 84), Oduor (Iseka 77), Woodrow (Adeboyejo 84), Morris. Unused substitutes: Jordan Williams, Moon, Vita, Jinadu.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).

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