Conor Hourihane said it was ‘brilliant’ for Barnsley to end a six-game wait for a win and hopes to go far in the EFL Trophy after beating Manchester United under 21s 5-2 at Oakwell on Tuesday.

The Reds fell behind and were pegged back to 2-2 but David McGoldrick scored a hat-trick to inspire them to victory. They have three points from two games in the competition and are second in the group with a game to play.

Head coach Hourihane told the Chronicle: “In the first half we were only OK. I didn’t think we were aggressive enough and they got out too easily. We changed the press half an hour in and we were a lot more aggressive and man to man. I said to the lads at half-time to run over the top of them and get on the front foot. We cranked it up and scored some good goals. We changed to a formation which suited our players a bit more.

“But we shouldn’t have to make that mentality change, we need to be like that from the get go.

“But it’s a win which is brilliant, I want to win games and get out of the group and progress further in the competition.

“Whatever people have done in the past in this competition, I have a history of winning it and know what it feels like.”

Vimal Yoganathan and Jake Rooney made errors for the visitors’ goals.

Hourihane said: “Both goals are very very avoidable. The second one we forced them long from the press like we want them to but it’s a lapse in concentration. They haven’t had to work for their goals, we’ve had to create reality good chances to score ours. We need to cut mistakes out like we keep saying to make some games little bit easier.”

McGoldrick ended a seven-game wait for a goal after recovering from a minor groin problem.

“I really wanted to play Didzy tonight. He hasn’t played for a few weeks. He needed to dust the cobwebs off. He turns up and scores a hat-trick. No matter who you’re playing against, whether it’s in the Premier League or in this competition in front of a thousand people, he’s got the mentality to do it right all the time.”

Neil Farrugia got his first goal for the club and Jon Russell came off the bench to net.

“Neil and Jon needed good performances. I’ve praised them in the dressing room. They are not getting the minutes they want but these games aren’t just to turn up and get through, they are to put your hand up and show you should be playing. Credit to them.”

Jack Fletcher was sent off for the visitors at 3-2. Hourihane said: “It was some sort of dissent. I am not sure of the ins and outs but it was some kind of strong words the ref heard which was enough to send the lad off.

“It made the rest of the game a lot easier and we scored two more goals. But it was 3-2 at the time and we were coming on strong. It’s an important factor that we weren’t losing when they had someone sent off.”

Adam Phillips came off injured after being fouled for Barnsley’s opening goal from the penalty spot. Hourihane said: “It’s a precaution. He over-stretched it for the penalty incident. I don’t think there’s too much to worry about.”

He also said Tennai Watson’s injury on Saturday was not serious.

Leo Farrell missed the trophy game after picking up an injury with loan club Guiseley on Saturday. The agreement with the non-league club is that he would return for trophy matches.

“We put Luke (Alker) on from the academy which is good and Faz has just been really unlucky with the timing of the injury at the weekend. Kieran Graham is also injured. They have both trained with us a lot and impressed but then both got injured which is a shame because they both would have been involved.”