JOSH Earl feels Barnsley may benefit from entering the second leg of the play-offs without the pressure of big expectations.
With a 3-1 deficit after the first game at Oakwell, the managerless Tykes must fight hard to keep their Championship ambitions alive for the following season.
The former Wanderers loanee felt the setback on Friday night was mostly self-inflicted, calling the three Bolton goals “rubbish”.
He told The Barnsley Chronicle: “They defeated us by two goals. Who said we couldn’t beat them by two goals on Tuesday? We just need to rest and recover, train on Sunday, put in the effort, and figure out how to achieve it.
“In some ways, the strain has been lifted from us. We can flourish on that. When you get one back, you never know what will happen.
“We know we can score two goals, no problems.”
Wanderers gave up possession for long stretches of the first game, winning with just 41% of the ball – their lowest total all season.
The Whites did have more shots on goal and more touches within the penalty box than their opponents, but their strategy ultimately proved successful.
Earl believed Barnsley was to fault for their own decline.
“It was poor defending from everyone involved,” that’s what he stated. “We cannot keep throwing away goals like that. It seemed like a foul on Robbo (keeper Liam Roberts), but it was a bad goal.
“All three were quite poor. It was a wonderful amount of play for the first goal, but we were down to 10 men and should have kept together as a unit. We make blunders in split seconds. You cannot do that in high-level contests like these.
“Aside from the three goals, we are encouraged by the overall performance.
“We played well, went long when we had to, fought for first and second balls, defended really well for most of the game and played good football towards the end.”
Barnsley’s late-season fortunes deteriorated to the point where manager Neil Collins was sacked on the penultimate weekend, with Martin Devaney taking over temporarily.
Reports of missed managerial targets have surfaced over the last week, but with the club winless in seven games, Earl says something radical must happen at the Toughsheet for the Tykes to turn things around.
“They haven’t been the results we wanted and we know we haven’t performed unbelievably,” he went on to say. “Unfortunately, that’s only football at times. Everyone has made mistakes that have resulted in objectives. We’ve also been unfortunate. Sometimes football doesn’t go your way, and many of the goals have been unlucky.”
The former Preston manager, however, thinks that the lack of a permanent manager has not played a significant role in underperformance.
“It has not affected us,” he continued. “At the time it was a bit of a shock but it’s our job to go out and play football.”
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