Neill Collins knows his on-song Barnsley team face further challenges

Posted Sunday, February 25, 2024 by PA

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins insisted his side will not get carried away after they came from behind to beat Derby 2-1 and move to within three points of their promotion rivals.

Sonny Bradley put Derby ahead in the 18th-minute but Phillips’ double strike either side of the interval gave the Tykes a valuable Sky Bet League One win.

Collins said: “The scenes at the end…the fans were excellent and the players were happy but no one was getting carried away.

“I think the players have been extremely professional and consistent over the season. Because of the big crowd, playing against a big club and where we are in the league, but I won’t have anyone saying we’ve got carried away.

“We enjoy (this one) like any other victory and we get ready again because we’re in a promotion race and we all know that promotion races are over a long period of time and we need that keep that level up.

“It was definitely great for the 18,000 here today to see the home team win. Everyone was telling me it was a ‘must-win’. Thankfully we’ve won the game and performed well. There will be lots of ‘must-wins’ between now and the end of the season.

“We started well but lost a goal against a set-piece. Derby are excellent at attacking set-pieces but we responded again, dug in and I think it says a lot about the group that we continued to play and do the right things and got back in the game with a fantastic goal. Then I thought we had a real good spell up until we got the next one.”

Collins praised two-goal Phillips, saying: “He’s been a major leader in the team with his performances. He’s scoring goals and winning tackles and he’s been excellent.”

Derby boss Paul Warne felt his side deserved a point.

He said: “Yes, it was a disappointing end. I thought first half, we weren’t at our best. I didn’t think we had any real character on the ball in the first half.

“They’re young, athletic players who just came after us. They didn’t give us any time on the ball. I thought we were poor in possession of the ball in the first half.

“It didn’t feel like we had any rhythm to our game in the first half. In the second half we started similarly and we made changes to try and change the way we looked.

“I thought we started to look good and then they scored from a set-piece, which is horrific.

“Then I thought the lads gave everything they could and kept going until the end. I can’t knock their character, but we didn’t create enough real gilt-edged chances.

“I think most people would agree that a draw would have been a fair result.”