Conor Hourihane admitted Barnsley’s 2-0 home loss to Port Vale was their most disappointing performance of the season so far.
The Reds were very flat and conceded twice in the final half an hour to lose at Oakwell for the first time in the league this season.
Hourihane told the Chronicle: “It’s the most disappointed I’ve been this season. The games we’ve lost so far, AFC Wimbledon we created big chances, Blackpool we played some good stuff and it was a late goal. As a full game, that probably was the most disappointing and the flattest it’s been.
“There was a buzz last week and all of sudden it’s gone that little bit flatter and it’s up to us to move it back into our favour.”
Barnsley did not have a shot on target, while they have had just one across the last three games in all competitions.
“It’s not very concerning. I think the attackers have had loads of plaudits this season. We’ve got some very good attacking players and we can’t rely on them every single game. They will have off games and come alive in others. It’s just two games that have come back to back but I am sure we’ll be fine.”
Hourihane called for a response from last week’s late loss in Blackpool but it never came. He said: “That’s probably the big frustration. I wanted to bounce back with a home performance, a victory, and an energetic performance. It just wasn’t to be. It happens in football. Seven days is a long time in football. Look what we were like going into Blackpool, full of confidence, all of a sudden we’re the worst team ever, we have to stay consistent with our work and emotions and try to improve.”
He added: “It’s a little bit of a reality check for everyone. You are always going to have little patches that test you, this is one of them.
“We knew Port Vale give you very little. They have a big back line and you have to stay patient and pepper their goal with shots and smartsplay around their box. That didn’t happen today. We stayed flat and the goals were poor.
“My big message to the players was that we played Tuesday and they played Wednesday. They had a really tough game with Arsenal and long spells without the ball. I thought that would be challenging for them but credit to them they came here and made it difficult for us. Well done to them.”
Hourihane took top-scorer Davis Keillor-Dunn off after 65 minutes. The head coach said: “The game was flat and bringing on Neil (Farrugia) and Reyes (Cleary) wide gave us some pace. If you go longer into Davo against a physical back five, he will find it difficult.
“Davo will know he was quiet and not clean with the ball. Sometimes it doesn’t go for you, you get taken off and move onto next training session.”
Defender Josh Earl, who headed wide early on, said: “We weren’t at the races today. The two goals were poor to concede. But going the other way we didn’t create enough chances. We have to knock it on the head and come back on Monday.
“I had a chance. My sleeve was all ripped from contact from the defender so it was tough to get decent contact on the ball.”
