Michael Duff praises Barnsley for digging in to secure win over Shrewsbury

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2023 by PA

Barnsley head coach Michael Duff praised his side’s resilience as they held on to a 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury.

Nicky Cadden and Devante Cole scored for the home side, before Killian Phillips halved the deficit in injury time.

Cadden was shown a straight red in the second half for a challenge on Phillips. The visitors were also reduced to 10 men when Ryan Bowman was shown a second yellow in sixth minute of time added on.

Barnsley remain in pursuit of the top two, five points adrift with six games left to play, and Duff said: “It was a win, and all wins are good.

“The performance wasn’t at the level they’ve been at, but we’re at the stage of the season where unfortunately you’ve got to sacrifice performances for results.

“The second half we get involved in a scrap, but credit to the resilience and the character as they’ve managed to see the game out.

“If you turn up and expect to win it just doesn’t happen. We’ve seen it out in the end which is the most important part.”

On Cadden’s red card, Duff said: “I’ve not seen it back properly, I didn’t think it was (a red card) at the time.

“One thing I do know is it won’t be malicious, he isn’t that type, he isn’t nasty, he isn’t known for his big tackles.”

On his side winning eight home games in a row, Duff said: “It is good, this group was written off pretty early before they were given a chance. It’s no mean feat and there’s been good teams in that run. We’ve beaten all the big boys.

“We’ve beaten every type of team. It is hard to win a game, so don’t turn your nose up at a win.”

Shrewsbury manager Steve Cotterill was pleased with the way his side fought.

He said: “They had the fightback in them a little bit. I think that’s perhaps been missing in a couple of games.

“At the end there we could easily have got a result. We always knew it was going to be a tough game here, they’re riding high in the table.

“The game, for me, was 50/50 with 40 minutes on the clock. It was a narrow defeat but there’s not a lot we can do about it now.

“I thought today I had my team back a bit, it had a bit of fight and a bit of spirit in it.

“Today proved the boys are ready for the final games no matter how tough they are.”

On suggestions his side could have had a penalty, he added: “Clear penalty. Killian Phillips heads it and the lad goes into him. That was absolutely nailed on.

“We haven’t really had the rub of the green with referees this season.”