I must change the mindset of the Barnsley FC players, insists head coach Gerhard Struber

Having been the better side in the first-half and having gone close to taking the lead on the restart when Jacob Brown's shot hit the crossbar, the rock-bottom Reds soon charitably conceded the only goal of the game when former loanee Ashley Fletcher netted a soft opener.

Barnsley never recovered from the moment and were left to rue another defeat as their winless streak extended to 17 matches and their goals against tally increased to 37, with the Reds being eight points adrift of safety.

Struber, whose side are back in action at home to Yorkshire rivals Hull City on Saturday in the Austrian's first game in charge at Oakwell, said: "It is not so easy for the boys in the situation they are in. It is a frustrating situation and a difficult situation.

"We have to change the mindset in the next days to win a game and this is my job now.

"We created good chances and we were not so lucky. In the second-half after the goal, it was a ping-pong game and the opponent and my team had low control on and off the ball.

"But until sixty minutes, it was a very good game with chances and one hit the crossbar and we were not lucky."

Facing a side with their own problems in Boro, who went into the game on a nine-match sequence without a win and were on their worst run of form at this level since 1985, Struber admitted that he saw vulnerabilities in the hosts, who he felt had 'no special match plan' - compounding the disappointment of his side's result.

"This was a team who when we looked at it over ninety minutes, we must win," Struber added.

"Middlesbrough is not in form and they have no special match plan apart from on the counter. We did a good job, but at the end we were disappointed."