You can’t blame Barnsley assistant Andreas Winkler for taking Huddersfield job

Winkler came to Oakwell with Stendel in the summer and has helped make the Reds into League One promotion contenders.

But he has swapped South Yorkshire for West Yorkshire to join new Terriers' boss Jan Siewart's coaching staff after a compensation package was agreed.

Stendel said: “At the weekend he spoke with the new manager from Huddersfield. I know him also, we did the pro licence together.

“Andy and Jan worked together in Essen. He told me about the offer and I said OK.

“I wanted him to stay but on the other side it is a big chance for him to work in the Premier League. I am disappointed that he left the club, we worked very well in the first seven months together.

“This is the way in football and we work together in the next days and we find a good solution.

“Andreas was also sad. It is a big chance for him, he liked to work here, he liked to work at the club with these fans.

“He worked very well for the club, also the people in Barnsley like his personality. We will miss him, but Huddersfield is not so far.”

Barnsley-born academy coach Dale Tonge will make the step up to the senior squad for the next three games to help out before a permanent decision on Stendel's assistant is made.

The German has hinted that he will bring another coach in from his homeland to help with the language barrier, but that is not on the immediate agenda.

“We spoke for a long time about what I expect from him,” Stendel added. “He is a good option for us and the team.

“I am happy that he is involved in our team. We spoke for a long time about how we play, the last six months about how we want to play in the first team and how we want to play in the academy.

“He is a good guy, his character, his mentality fits for our staff and our squad and Tongey stands for identity from this club. He comes from Barnsley, he plays from Barnsley and he works from Barnsley this is good.

“Maybe we sign another coach, but in the first time Dale supports us. It is important that we have your trust, we have a good basic trust with Dale.

“But I speak English, still not how I want. Maybe I think about a coach from Germany. At the moment I am happy that it is Dale.”