BARNSLEY’S players are ‘desperate’ to follow up their valiant display at Liverpool on Monday with frequent wins in the third division says young midfielder Jono Bland.
The Reds have had plenty of praise for their performance in the FA Cup at Anfield but are now refocusing to host Blackpool on Saturday.
Bland told the Chronicle: “It was a free hit. It was amazing how well we played and the experience we got.
“If you play well Anfield then get relegated at the end of the season, no one cares. We know what the main focus is.
“We’re young but there are a lot of hungry players who are desperate to get back to winning ways.”
Bland came up against multi-million pound midfielders such as Dominik Szoboszlai – who scored then gifted Adam Phillips a goal – and World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister.
“They are exactly who I wanted to play against. I didn’t want Liverpool to play a second string but even then it would have been multi-million players.
“You want it to be as strong as possible so you can see how far you are off it. They are physically so good, don’t stop running for 90 minutes.
“The biggest take is the intensity and how much of the hard yards they put in. Me and Curtis Jones had a bit of chat at times because I was next to him.
“When Davo (Davis Keillor-Dunn) hit the post in the first minute he said ‘big chance’ in his Scouse accent.”
The match at Anfield came five years after Bland was released by West Bromwich Albion, having played there with Reds team-mate Reyes Cleary.
“Me and Reyes both came through West Brom together from the young ages. If you had told us eight years ago we would have played against some of the best players in the world in front of 60,000 fans, we would have laughed and my family would have laughed.”
Bland and fellow academy graduate Vimal Yoganathan played in the holding midfield roles at Anfield.
“It’s probably the first time this year that we’ve played next to each other.
“It was just us two in midfield and the way we complemented each other, stuck by each other, backed each other was really good. Hopefully we can do that on Saturday. It’s nice for me and him being so young, having played together in the 18s, to hopefully show we can do it at the highest level.”
Bland forced a save in the first half from a 20-yard shot. He said: “For a split second I thought I was running away cheering in front of the Kop.
“I have watched it back and it was a pretty comfortable save.
“But I hit it well.”
Captain Luca Connell did not play at Anfield as he started a three-match ban for a red card on New Year’s day.
“Luca has helped me a lot off and on the pitch. While he is out, there is a bit of a hole in midfield. He brings so much to the team with and without the ball.
“Someone has to fill it in whether that’s me or Vimal or whoever.”
