Darrell Clarke said his Barnsley squad have a ‘soft underbelly’ which he needs to ‘beat out of them’ after they lost a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 draw at home to Northampton Town on Saturday.
Max Watters and Adam Phillips put the Reds in front then they missed chances for a third before conceding in the 73rd and 78th minutes.
Clarke told the Chronicle: “Frustrating. Two points dropped. We get ourselves 2-0 up and miss chances to kill the game off. There is a soft underbelly and vulnerability about us which I don’t like and I need to beat it out of them. Some of the decision-making made us lose two goals.
“Our game management needs to be better, not a lackadaisical approach when we go ahead and we need to focus until the end.”
Wing-back Barry Cotter said: “It’s two poor points to let go - goals from a throw in then a free-kick. We were in control of every minute, we feel. It’s a very frustrating one to let slide away.”
The result meant Barnsley have not won at Oakwell for ten games across six months.
“The fans have been brilliant since I’ve come in. We’re trying to play attacking football. In the two home (league) games we have created enough chances to score there or four in each.
“We have to take them and certainly have to defend better as a team when you are 2-0 up at home against Northampton.”
Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, on his home debut, made an error for the leveller. Clarke said: “He’s been very good since he’s been here but he didn’t deal with the cross which is frustrating.
“He has to learn quickly. We have to make sure that we’re not talking about the errors every week.
“It’s been three games, four points but it should have been six. We will have talks with one or two players to make sure we get them in the right frame of mind when situations like this happen later in the campaign.”
Watters got his first goal since December. Clarke said: “Pleased for Max. He’s working hard, his performances have been solid and he deserved his goal.”
Clarke took Georgie Gent off at half-time to change to a back four. He said: “Georgie is doing well and has settled in. But I thought we needed a back four. It worked at the start of the send half – we scored and we were stronger defensively.”
Matty Craig missed the match with a minor calf issue but could face Sheffield United on Tuesday, according to Clarke.
Clarke said Callum Styles’ exit is ‘imminent tonight, I think’ with the Hungary international due to join West Bromwich Albion permanently. On incomings, Clarke said: “We know the window shuts next week and we know the areas we need to strengthen. We will assess the squad after the window shuts but we need players.”
