Alex Neil conceded to iFollow post-match that his side were not worth the three points they sought at Oakwell this afternoon.
North End, particularly in the first half threatened to break the deadlock with Jordan Hugill going the closest for the visitors by hitting the post, but in the second half, Barnsley had chances of their own and forced Chris Maxwell into action on more than one occasion. Speaking after the game, Neil admitted that his side weren’t at their creative best this afternoon.
“I thought if we were ever going to win it, it would have been in the first half,” evaluated the gaffer at the final whistle.
“Our best chances and opportunities came in that half. We didn’t make the best use of them at times and I felt the more the game wore on, the better Barnsley became.
“We had to soak up a bit of pressure as the game wore on. We tried to counteract that by bringing on attacking players but they didn’t really change the game so we had to make sure we didn’t concede and not lose the game. Equally we tried to win it but going forward we didn’t do enough to deserve it.
“We lacked a bit of composure and incisiveness going forward. Picking that right pass at the right time, maybe a bit of vision at times too in terms of getting our heads up and seeing what the best option is so yes we’re a bit frustrated but it’s certainly not for a lack of effort. The boys worked their socks off.
“There was a lack of creativity in the second half. First half we looked dangerous and looked like we were going to score, but I didn’t get that feeling in the second half. Our creativity wasn’t as good and we suffered when Paul Gallagher had to go off but we needed to make that change. We just need to suck it up and go again.”
Speaking of injuries, Neil provided an update on the absentees of Tom Clarke and Callum Robinson this afternoon, stating that neither are serious.
“We don’t want to overload Tom, and take any chances so we left him out this afternoon and Callum Robinson has a badly bruised foot so he missed out and Paul Gallagher’s calf tightens up so we had to take him off.
“Calum Woods was tiring as expected and he gets a dead leg so he needs to come off but the boys worked their socks off. I thought over the course of the game, a draw was a fair result.
“The biggest problem in football is when you do get a couple of result and go on runs, expectation levels rise naturally. We’re disappointed we didn’t win today and our last game but we can’t cry over it and we’ve got to do is try and improve and try to get better and the one thing you can guarantee is that the lads will give us everything.”
Watch Alex's full interview on iFollow now.