Barnsley's Michal Helik hoping defeat to Manchester City can be a 'good lesson'

The Reds open their Championship season at Cardiff City this weekend, aiming to replicate last term’s top-six finish.

Man City had effectively won the game by half time on Saturday, as three goals in 11 first-half minutes from Samuel Edozie, Ben Knight and Riyad Mahrez put the Premier League champions in control.

Nathan Ake added a fourth on 68 minutes while Brad Collins saved Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty.

“It was a good lesson for us, against a really good opponent - they are one of the best teams in the world,” reflected Helik, who got 90 minutes under his belt.

“I think we will learn a lot and hopefully it will help us going into the season.

“We are all well prepared, we have one more week to make things better.”

Barnsley are hoping to go one better than last season after they reached the play-offs before losing their semi-final to Swansea City,

“We want to get promoted so we can play these teams every week,” continued Helik, who featured in both legs of the play-off semi-final and made a total of 54 appearances last year.

“There is also a lot of good teams in the Championship we need to face. We want to learn as much from the game as we can.”

Cardiff are among the favourites to claim a top-six finish this season and they ended their pre-season preparations with a 2-0 win over Newport County on Saturday.

Helik added of this weekend’s contest: “We are looking forward to it. We feel good.

“We are getting better everyday and are learning the new gaffer’s style.”

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