Poya Asbaghi on how the absence of Cauley Woodrow is making Barnsley FC players grow

Woodrow is sidelined until April following knee surgery, with his last appearance coming in the 2-1 loss at Preston just over two months ago.

Thrust into a difficult situation, the Championship's youngest squad are learning on the job with some recent spirited performances in narrow defeats so far this year culminating in a rare joyous moment on Saturday when the Reds beat high-flying QPR 1-0, thanks to a goal from recent loan signing Domingos Quina.

It remains to be seen if the victory proves the catalyst to a concerted fight against relegation after Asbaghi secured a long overdue first league triumph of his time in charge at the 12th time of asking or represents a moment in isolation in a harsh season.

But there are some fleeting signs that one or two young players are starting to find their feet, which is at least something given events in a hitherto torrid 2021-22.

On the off-the-field input of Woodrow, Asbaghi said: "He has a really good mentality and is a super professional football player who is always looking out for the younger players and the younger players know there are a lot of them, so that means nearly all the players.

"When he is out, of course it requires the rest of the team to take more responsibility than they are used to when he is not around. Both on the pitch, but also outside of the pitch.

"But there are some players here who are taking more responsibility now he is not present. Of course, when he comes back, these players will have developed and then we will have the captain who we know Cauley is and then we will have a good mix."

While Quina was afforded the personal kudos after his winner against QPR, Saturday was also an afternoon when the likes of Remy Vita, Callum Styles and Claudio Gomes - aged respectively - stepped up and it was an encouraging development on the day.

Asbaghi, whose bottom-placed side are five points adrift of fourth-from-bottom Reading - with the battle for survival highly likely to be between the bottom four - added: "I believe that these young players with the right results will get a lot of confidence that will show that they have more to give to the team.

"I don't know if it has been about the management of the games. What has been the case for us in the past month and a half is that we have not had so many (players) out on the pitch to change a game from the bench.

"Of course, we have young players from the academy, but to expect them to come in and make Barnsley go from 2-1 to 3-2 against good teams in the Championship, then I think we are putting too much pressure on players without experience.

"That has been the case for us. Even though we can put out a starting 11 with some experience - which even then is pretty low - having a bench to be able to turn things around is expecting a little bit too much. Hopefully, we will have some players (back) who can not only effect the games from starting, but also from the bench."