LUCA Connell says Barnsley will no longer ‘go under’ when conceding a goal or being put under pressure.

The Reds held on to beat high-flying Wrexham on Wednesday who pulled one back late on but could not find an equaliser despite putting the hosts under tremendous pressure.

Captain Connell told the Chronicle: “In the first half, the quality on the ball was there but in the second half we dug deep. That’s maybe what’s changed from the season before.

“It’s a mentality. If we concede a goal, we’re not going under. It’s a massive thing in our armoury.”

Barnsley have bounced back from a 4-0 home loss to Leyton Orient – which Connell missed due to illness – with three straight victories.

He said: “As much as people don’t want to admit it, it does happen in games sometimes. It’s a one-off. We haven’t had any more of them this season.

“You can see we have been working hard in training behind the scenes and put three performances together where we’ve deserved wins.”

The win over Wrexham followed a very disappointing 2024 at Oakwell, in which they won just six league games and two of the last 17. Connell said: “We try to block the noise out. But when we see six wins at home, it’s not good enough. It’s good to start the year with a win and hopefully kick on.

“The fans got behind us. They have been good to us over the last few weeks when maybe we haven’t deserved it.

“Over last couple of years, after December our season really gets going. We’ve started the year in the right way and now we need to really kick on.”