Darrell Clarke frustrated as Barnsley force a late point

Posted Wednesday, October 23, 2024 by PA

Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke praised his side’s attitude as they levelled deep into stoppage time to make it 2-2 after Charlton thought they had won it.

Davis Keillor-Dunn and Max Watters scored for the hosts either side of a Luke Berry brace, with both sides finding the back of the net in second-half stoppage time.

Clarke said: “Disappointed not to win the game, I really am.

“(It was an) individual mistake to go 2-1 down, but a great response from the players, never giving in. That’s the attitude we want to see.

“I thought the performance on a whole was a good performance, we’ve hit the ball, had it cleared off the line, created chances, worked their goalkeeper, but it should be three points.

“There’s a lot of frustrated bodies in the changing rooms and in the staff.”

On his side’s character to find a late equaliser, Clarke said: “That’s credit to the players, a never-say-die attitude.

“There’s been a few injury time goals (this season), we’ve scored that one, conceded a few as well.

“The players, certainly last two performances, have been a lot more at our standard. Now we need to keep growing those performances because if you perform like that, nine times out of ten you’re going to win games.

“Tonight wasn’t that night, like I say, an individual mistake and a little bit (more) rub of the green in the final third and we win the game comfortably.”

Charlton manager Nathan Jones, who had to watch the game from the stands due to suspension, criticised his team’s performance.

He felt they let themselves down on the basics and had to issue some stern words to his players.

He said: “I’m disappointed with the level of performance tonight, we were a mile off where we need to be.

“Pleased we showed character to come back, we could’ve won it in the end. It would’ve been a snatched win because I’m not saying we were dominant in any way, but we were a mile off the levels we need to be.

“We didn’t do the basics today and that’s how we allowed Barnsley to take the lead and snatch a draw.

“Basics are something you can implement, you can work on, you can graft and you say you have to do, but once you cross that white line you’ve got to do them.

“You can do all the prep-work whatsoever, then when they go out there that’s the responsibility of them and I took responsibility at Bristol Rovers the other day for a poor performance.

“Tonight we got a point, but we were a mile off what we need to be.

“I’ve had a lot of harsh words in there and I have to justify those with a debrief in terms of things, but we were a mile off where we need to be for this football club.”