Michael Duff happy Barnsley ‘found a way’ to win at Wycombe

Barnsley manager Michael Duff admitted his team had fortune on their side in the 1-0 win at Wycombe.

The Tykes had to withstand pressure from the hosts in the first half before sneaking a win thanks to Slobodan Tedic’s header with five minutes remaining.

The Serbian’s first goal for Barnsley gave the South Yorkshire club their ninth win in 11 games as they moved onto 69 points for the season.

Duff said: “It was a scrappy game and we weren’t at our best but we managed to find a way to get the result and, most importantly, a clean sheet.

“We’ve got quality in the team and the five subs that we managed to make made a positive impact on the game and that helped us to win.

“Did it look like it was going to peter out? Yes, because there weren’t many chances in the match.

“We were fortunate to be level at half-time as Wycombe created the better chances but we found a way to stay in it.”

The home side dominated the opening 45 minutes but could not find the opener, Tjay De Barr going close inside five minutes before Harry Isted pushed over Garath McCleary’s cross-shot eight minutes later.

The Gibraltarian had another chance midway through the half as his close-range header glanced away from the target while Brandon Hanlan and Lewis Wing both had their attempts thwarted.

However, the best opportunity of the contest fell to Chem Campbell just before the break but the on-loan Wolves man fired over from inside the six-yard box after Isted pushed out Wing’s attempt.

Wycombe manager Matt Bloomfield singled out his side’s defending around the goalline as crucial to their narrow loss.

The Chairboys looked like they were heading for their first 0-0 draw at Adams Park this season in the league before Tedic’s header.

For Wanderers, it was only the second time in 2023 they had been defeated at home and, despite bossing the ball and having more chances than the opposition, Bloomfield was not happy with the defending.

He said: “I’m gutted we didn’t get anything from that performance as we deserved something from it.

“But it did seem it was our throw from where they scored so I need to watch it back.

“I wasn’t far away from it but Jason [McCarthy] has cleared it and it certainly took a deflection but we still need to defend the goal better.

“That’s not just the goal but the throw-in and the cross too.

“That’s the disappointing factor as we didn’t get a result from a performance we did more than enough to earn a point.”