Murray ‘a bit gutted’ after Barnsley held by Swansea

Posted Sunday, October 20, 2019 by PA

Barnsley caretaker boss Adam Murray thought his side deserved more from their 1-1 home draw with Swansea.

Andre Ayew broke the deadlock in the 67th minute with a header after Bersant Celina’s initial effort was saved.

But Barnsley soon bounced back three minutes later when Alex Mowatt slotted home Conor Chaplin’s pull-back.

Murray, in charge following Daniel Stendel’s dismissal, said: “Before the game, with the team we were facing, if you’d have said we would get a point after the game we would have been satisfied with that.

“But the way the boys performed, we’re probably a bit gutted.

“We had enough chances, especially early on, to go ahead in the game. But the reaction that we showed when we went a goal behind was a real positive.

“We’ve found already this season that this is a league in which we must take the opportunities that come to us because it is ruthless. One or two chances and we get punished so that is an area we need to improve in.

“When you face a team that is as high-flying as Swansea are, we are always going to have to rely on our goalkeeper at some point and your defenders. When those guys were called upon today, they stepped forward and dealt with everything that was thrown at them.

“Overall the attitude of the players was positive and we could see growth in the lessons they’ve learned with the tough start to the season they’ve had.”

The Tykes looked the better side in the first half and created the better opportunities.

Cauley Woodrow’s deft flick from Dimitri Cavare’s long throw was well stopped by Freddie Woodman.

Woodrow, again involved, saw his effort parried to Cameron McGeehan’s feet, but his follow-up sailed over the bar.

The Swans continued to play through the thirds and Ayew came closest with a low left-footed strike, before notching the opener.

Swansea manager Steve Cooper was disappointed his side failed to build on their lead and get all three points.

Cooper said: “I know the game went a certain way and Barnsley had some decent moments in the first half. We felt it was going to be an untidy game with the circumstances here with the change of manager.

“So, we planned for them to be different to what they were. We thought they would be much more direct during the game with their long throws, but we prepared for that.

“We spoke about getting on the ball and playing the way we want to play but staying in the game as well and then we felt the last 30 minutes would be for us to go win the game.

“To go 1-0 up was as planned, we missed two sitters before it, so we should have been two or three up.

“We’ve conceded at a really poor time and it leaves you with dissatisfaction because we should have gone on and won the game.

“In terms of picking a team, we know we have 25 players to pick from who are more than capable of playing for Swansea and we picked a team today that would stick to our game plan.”