After travelling to Bramall Lane yesterday, relegation battling Barnsley came away with a 2-0 defeat. 

The match was quite an even one with possession shared at 54% vs 46% in Sheffield United's favour and the hosts only had one more shot on target than Barnsley.

The teams went into the half time break at 0-0 but it was just nine minutes into the second half that Sheffield United took the lead and after the first goal, it felt clear that a second goal was on the cards.

Reflecting on his side's reaction after going a goal down head coach Poya Asbaghi told The Yorkshire Post: "The reaction after that [the goal] is not what I was hoping for.

"Sheffield were suffering, they didn't have the game they were expecting. You could see that in the players and the confidence they have. You see they were a little bit surprised at the way Barnsley are dictating terms so when they score that goal a lot of confidence is now gained and with the help of the supporters they are going to be a better team.

"We needed to step up a lot but we were not able to do that. Instead we lost the ball a couple of times and they were closer to scoring and created.

"They scored the second goal as a result of that.

"After the goal is something we need to improve."

Asbaghi admits that recovering when suffering is something he has tried to programme into his players and though they have shown it in the league, they need to improve on showing it in games as he said: "What I said before I came in here is you're going to suffer in games, you have to be good at suffering. We are good when we're good but we have to improve the ability to be good when we are suffering.

"We have been good at suffering from game to game after losing games, we have been ruled out [of staying in the Championship] but everybody and that part of suffering we have done that in an impressive way.

"But in each and every game when we're playing well and suddenly the opponents take over and have momentum for 15 minutes, as a team we have to be better at overcoming that.

"It's normal it's not your biggest strength when you are a young team but it's a must for us to develop because we're in a really difficult position in the league where we need to win enough games."

The Verdict:

This was a disappointing afternoon for Barnsley who had a good chance of getting something from a game against a team that currently sit in the play-off positions.

It seems as though once they conceded the first goal, their heads dropped and they were not able to get themselves back in the game.

Asbaghi is fair in his comments though as he pointed out that in the league this season his side have shown the ability to overcome their suffering which has resulted in them picking up some better results and having a chance at staying up. However, if they want to stay up they have to start getting this into their games week on week to improve their consistency.

After the international break, Barnsley face Reading who currently sit directly above them in the table and five points clear of them. For Asbaghi this looks to be a vital game in deciding whether or not Barnsley will survive the drop this year so they will need to train hard and go into that game with a strong mindset.