Stendel: Getting win was very important after successive defeats

Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel hailed a “very important” victory for his promotion hopefuls after seeing them return to winning ways with a 1-0 triumph over struggling Bristol Rovers at Oakwell.

Alex Mowatt scored the only goal in the first half as Barnsley bounced back from consecutive away defeats to Charlton and Shrewsbury to move up to fourth in the League One standings.

Stendel said: “I think it is a very important win for us because you can see that (after two losses) we lost our confidence and self-belief.

“It wasn’t an easy game to win for us and it wasn’t our best performance but I think it’s good because we won 1-0 at home and we’ve stopped our negative run.

“We played OK against Charlton but they were better on the day and on Tuesday it was a bad performance from us but today the players showed that they can improve their performance, which is important for me and good for the players.”

Mowatt got the breakthrough in the 11th minute with the midfielder curling a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.

The visitors were on top for the final 15 minutes of the first half and could have equalised on the half-hour mark.

However, Reds goalkeeper Adam Davies was on hand to deny Stefan Payne from close range before Chris Lines’ goal-bound shot was blocked.

The home side came closest to a second goal with 10 minutes left as substitute Mamadou Thiam hit the bar from a free-kick before firing over from inside the box.

The struggling Pirates were again on top towards the end of the half but ultimately they could not find an equaliser.

Stendel heaped praise on match-winner Mowatt, saying: “I think if you have watched our games, you will know that he is an important player for us.

“I don’t think he ever has a bad performance, most of the time he has a good performance. He won his duels, he played very well with the ball and I’m happy that he scored as well.”

Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke bemoaned his side’s wasted opportunities as they continue to struggle near the foot of the table.

He said: “I don’t want to say we were unfortunate because it’s the story of our season; not being ruthless in the final third.

“I thought in the first 45 minutes when we were on the front foot, you’ve got to take your opportunities in key moments of the game and we’re not doing that throughout the course of the season so that’s why we’re struggling.

“I can’t say we deserved more because it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net and if we’re not punishing the opposition when the chances lie, we’ve got to take those opportunities.

“We’ve got to do better all round, but I think defensively we’re strong. You can put together as many game plans as you want but we have to be ruthless. I don’t really see that there can be any positives when you lose a game.”