Barnsley manager Paul Heckingbottom was delighted with the way his side 'stood up against everything' in the 4-2 victory over Burton Albion on Tuesday evening.
The Tykes came away with an excellent win from the Pirelli Stadium as the likes of Lloyd Isgrove, Brad Potts, Joe Williams and Harvey Barnes all found the net.
'They're still a really tough side'
Heckingbottom though was pleased to see his side stand up to a tough challenge in the form of the struggling Brewers in Staffordshire.
He said: "All Sunday, Monday, all we talked about was how tough it was going to be. No-ones come away with a win without earning it and that’s what we expect.
"We came up with Burton and fought them again last season. Nothing has changed, they’re still a really tough side that make you earn everything and we knew it would be that way," Heckingbottom continued.
'First real moment of quality'
The Yorkshire outfit twice let the lead slip on Tuesday evening before Joe Williams struck an outstanding volley from 25-yards to win the game for Barnsley. The Tykes' boss was understandably delighted to see such an eye-catching strike to tip the balance of the match for his team.
Heckingbottom said: "I was just about to let him have one to be fair, shooting with his left foot from there. It was the first real moment of quality in the game to be honest, it was a war of attrition up until then."
He continued: "I felt just before Joey’s [Joe Williams] goal to be fair we’d settled down. We’d stood up against everything but we hadn’t really shown any quality. We just settled down and made a few passes and got out full-backs on the ball more which pulled their wing-backs out which meant we could get to our wingers."
"The goal was out of nothing and it then deflated Burton a bit. Then, when we got the fourth it was a comfortable ten minutes at the end."
'We were disappointed'
The 40-year-old did however suggest that he was not particularly impressed with his team's defending at the Pirelli Stadium and did suggest that it could have cost the Tykes.
Heckingbottom said: "We were really disappointed with the two goals we conceded. Burton make you fight so hard, putting balls in your box.
"They're very organised on the throw-in so they work everything so they can always get a delivery into the box and then they’ve got bodies in there. So for us to not track runners twice, we’ve paid the price and made the game really difficult for us."