We only have ourselves to blame for Stoke draw – Barnsley boss Poya Asbaghi

Posted Wednesday, March 09, 2022 by PA

Barnsley boss Poya Asbaghi said his side only had themselves to blame for conceding late in their 1-1 draw with Stoke.

A stoppage-time equaliser from Lewis Baker snatched a point for the Potters.

Barnsley forward Domingos Quina lit up the match in the 70th minute with a stunning goal when he curled a superb effort past goalkeeper Jack Bonham to give the home side a valuable lead.

But Stoke pressure finally paid off in the fifth minute of time added on when Baker struck from distance.

Asbaghi said: “Conceding that late is a tough one to take. Of course it feels like a loss conceding in injury time.

“The first half isn’t what we wanted. Stoke were more direct than maybe we even expected and coming in at half-time we felt we needed to be more aggressive.

“The second half was better from us and it was a much more even game. It was a really good goal from Dom.

“We could have got a second, there were a few penalty shouts. Let’s say we’ve not been so fortunate with 50-50 penalty decisions in my time here. It looks suspicious but I’m not the one to decide.

“We’ve had the lead in previous games where we’ve been able to protect the lead in a good way. Overall I thought we defended well but for the goal we have to be better, we only have ourselves to blame.”

Stoke manager Michael O’Neill said: “I thought we played some good football and I’m disappointed to not win the game. We had a lot of good chances.

“Tonight we needed a good reaction to the game on Saturday, which was poor.

“I was impressed with Barnsley tonight. They played at a good tempo. In the second half they came into the game a little bit more, it was end-to-end and they scored a brilliant goal.

“The reaction to going behind was very good, we kept on going. I thought we showed really good character.

“We haven’t scored many late goals this season and for a lot of teams at the top in this league, it’s important. We need that as part of our make-up.

“Our problem this season has been when we’re dominant we don’t take our chances.

“My players did it on their own tonight, so testament to them.”