Conor Hourihane has urged his Barnsley squad to “reset” and end the League One season on a high as they prepare for a tough test at home to Bolton Wanderers this weekend.
The interim boss has overseen five games since stepping in for the departed Darrell Clarke, but the Reds remain without a win under his guidance. Last weekend’s 6-2 defeat at title-chasing Birmingham City — in which they played the majority of the match with 10 men — left Barnsley 13th in the table.
“We don’t want the season to end on a whimper”
Despite a bruising scoreline at St Andrew’s, Hourihane believes there are positives to build on, particularly the team’s first-half showing and their character after going down to 10 men.
“I have been in charge now for five games, we are halfway through,” he said. “I have seen them in spells play quite well and individual errors and a little bit of luck has not gone our way in games.”
“We need to reset now for five games, keep working on the training ground and hopefully that little bit of luck will change for us to end the season on a positive.”
Positives from Birmingham despite result
Hourihane believes the group showed encouraging signs in the first half against Birmingham before errors after the break proved costly.
“The biggest compliment I could give them is we went long spells of the game with 10 men but I didn’t even notice we were a man down,” he said. “First half, I thought we had the better chances and played through them.”
Former Bolton midfielder Luca Connell also played the majority of the match and is targeting a strong finish to the campaign despite falling out of the promotion race.
“We don’t want the season to peter out and end on a whimper. We want to really go out on a positive and we are going to reset now for five games, keep working hard and start on Saturday against Bolton,” said Hourihane.
Writer’s view
Hourihane’s message is a clear one: professionalism and pride must take over, even if the play-offs are now beyond reach. Bolton will provide a stern test, but if Barnsley can channel the same resolve they showed in spells against Birmingham — without the errors — there’s still time to lay down markers for next season and prove they haven’t downed tools under new leadership.
