Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber says he has noticed a shift in mindset in his players despite seeing them squander a lead for the second game running in a 1-1 draw with Reading.
The Sky Bet Championship’s bottom club took a 58th-minute lead through Cauley Woodrow but were pegged back when Lucas Joao steered home from a corner 14 minutes from time.
Struber conceded he was “angry” with the nature of the equaliser but pleased to see his players pushing for a winner rather than fearing defeat as they did in the 3-2 loss at Cardiff, where they led 1-0 and 2-1.
“I am very disappointed for this one point,” said Struber. “We need three points. The performance, especially in the first half, was very good. We created a lot of chances.
“The opponent had no control over the game, on the ball or off the ball.
“The equaliser from a set play is very bitter. The focus in this situation is not 100 per cent, but we learned from the last game. This is the next step.
“In Cardiff we had the feeling maybe we can lose the game and I think in this game we had the mindset at the end that we must push to win, which is positive.”
Discussing the leveller, Struber added: “We work hard in training on these situations but we need to keep the mentality and the clear focus.
“I am a little angry about this equaliser. This is a present for the opponent and I am angry because of this.”
Woodrow’s opener came after Michael Morrison gave away possession in defence, but Reading boss Mark Bowen still wants his team to build from the back.
“I’ve spoken to Michael Morrison, who is devastated in there,” said Bowen. “Obviously a poor mistake for the goal, but we can’t just be a team that lumps it forward all the time, we’ve got to try and build and play out from the back.
“We were scrappy in possession, we weren’t as fluid as we’d like to have been.
“It’s always pleasing to take something out of the game and to come from a goal behind – you obviously like to take a point when the game’s gone the way it has.
“But we want to be a team that dominates the play more and we were a bit sloppy in our passing today more than anything.
“I thought we were a bit passive defensively, certainly in the first 20-30 minutes, standing off them too much.
“A few words were said at half-time with regards to that, to be a bit more aggressive in defending. We made the change and the players bought into it and I think you get reward for the work that you put in.”
