Valerien Ismael delighted as Daryl Dike and Barnsley look much more like their old selves

The Reds were surprisingly beaten 2-0 at Coventry City but responded with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town which was more dominant than the scoreline suggested.

Dike scored the goal, acrobatically contorting himself to put Carlton Morris's deflected cross over his head and into the net.

“It's a great reaction from Coventry,” said Ismael. “It was not his best game. This is the quality of the player to bounce back quickly, show a good mentality, stay strong and focus on the performance.

“It will give us big confidence for the game on Saturday.

“We got the performance and we created a bigger gap (to seventh-placed Reading, who drew at Luton Town) but we are not over the line. We are focused on the game against Rotherham on Saturday. It will be another fight because Rotherham want to stay in the league and this will maybe be their last chance but we will be ready and a win tonight will give us the confidence to perform again.”

There was a relentlessness about Barnsley as they pushed forward but also a reliability at the back, with Ismael naming centre-back Michael Sollbauer as his man of the match.

“I'm very proud of the guys,” he said.

“I told the guys this is our identity and what we need all the time. When you put the energy, the performance in and believe in your principles you will win more games than you lose.

“I'm pleased with the three points but for sure with the performance from the first minute. We were really clear, really focused on the game and what we have to do.

“We have to score more goals. We had so many chances, especially in the second half but the defence stood really, really well. We kept the clean sheet so we did our job tonight.”

The only downside was a hamstring injury for Dominik Frieser.

“He had the same injury last year with LASK (last season) and came back after two weeks,” said Ismael.

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