Poya Asbaghi laments Barnsley’s defensive display in their 4-1 loss at Millwall

Poya Asbaghi reckoned that Barnsley’s 4-1 defeat against Millwall was their “worst defensive performance” since he arrived at Oakwell.

The Lions thrashed the Tykes at The Den on Saturday afternoon to give their play-off hopes a boost.

“There are players who defend well, but overall it’s not good enough,” said Asbaghi. 

“Today was the first time I am really disappointed with the defensive performance. This was the first time that I did not see a hard-working team [who were] winning duels – you will not stay in the league if you go 50 per cent in duels. We got a glimpse today of what happens if you do that.

“I don’t think we gave up. It was tough. We haven’t been a team that can turn games around. The 3-1 goal took away a lot of belief. I brought on more offensive players.

“But the impact of that was we lost balance – we couldn’t win the ball. It looked like we had given up, but it is more to do with the balance.

“We let the fans down – they were Barnsley’s best players today by far. We have to make sure they see in the next game that we put on a bigger fight and see players who go in with their heads first every duel, not like today.

“In the first half, we were better than a team that was fighting for the play-offs but, overall, it was not good enough for a team that wants to stay in the Championship. Hopefully we can say it’s an exception.

“Defensively, it was the worst performance since I arrived. In the first half, we had a good chance with Britts and then an even better chance with Styles, who is one on one with the goalkeeper.

“The first half is even, but we had the better chances. Millwall were more efficient by scoring the goal.

“When we made it 2-1, I was hopeful that would give us momentum and make them nervous, but we gave the game away, and it’s not good enough defensively.”