It was quite a day for Stoke City midfielder Sam Clucas on Saturday.

Up against the Potters' fellow Championship strugglers Barnsley, Clucas would score twice in new manager Michael O'Neill's first game in charge of the club to help his side secure a crucial 4-2 victory to move off the bottom of the table at the Tykes' expense.

It is the first of those two goals from Clucas that has already been claiming the headlines, after the midfielder opened the scoring when he latched onto a loose clearance from Barnsley 'keeper Brad Collins on the half-way line, before lifting the ball back over the Tykes stopper with a first-time effort that flew perfectly into the Barnsley net.

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Clucas has since been reflecting on that goal when speaking to Stoke's official website after the game, with the midfielder saying: “It just fell to me and I thought I might as well have a go and fortunately it ended up in the net."

Lee Gregory would double the Potters lead from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark, and although Cameron McGeehan would pull one back for Barnsley just after the break, Joe Allen's strike and a second from Clucas would all but seal the three points for the Tykes, before Patrick Schmidt netted a late consolation for the hosts.

Reflecting on how the game went after his stunning opener, Clucas continued: “It was a good start for us and we went on to get the second but came out for the second half and had a 10 or 15-minute spell when we conceded and looked a bit nervy again. I think that’s to do with the position we’re in and run we’ve been on, to be honest.

“There fans got up and we could feel it on the pitch and we were telling everyone to calm it down.

“But we came through that, got the next goal and then from there we were comfortable. I thought it was a great team performance.”

Discussing the importance of the win at Oakwell, the midfielder added: “If we lose the game today we could have been nine points away from safety and you have to start relying on teams losing. It’s a massive win.”

The Verdict

You're probably going to have to go a long way to find a better goal than Clucas' this season.

While the goalkeeper may have been off his line, the accuracy and distance that Clucas was able to get on the effort with what was effectively his first touch of the chance means this was still a goal of the very top quality.

But while it is that strike that is getting much of the attention, it is the win, to keep Stoke in touch with safety, that is the biggest the club will really need to take from this result.

Having picked up a win against a side around them in the table, the next challenge for Michael O'Neill in his new job, will be to start picking up those sorts of results against sides further up the standings in order to improve their own position in the division.