Barnsley: Sort out the defence or go down, Adam Murray warns

The Reds suffered a desperately disappointing defeat to Stoke on Saturday, sinking to the bottom of the Championship after the 4-2 loss.

Their defence was particularly generous with some of the goals they conceded and it left Murray feeling frustrated and also fearing the worst for the remainder of the campaign.

He said: “I think the goals that we’ve conceded, again, are errors that can’t happen. You can work as much as you want on tactical things and shape, but if we’re going to keep making bad decisions like that, it’s going to be a long season.

“People have got to start taking responsibility; we’ve spoken about it that much – it’s been said that we’re conceding soft goals and making too many errors, and people have got to start taking ownership.

“We know we’re going to score goals – that’s one thing this team has got in it – and we know that the boys care and they will keep fighting, but we just keep stabbing ourselves in the foot with stupid goals conceded.

“We can continue to work on things but, at the end of the day, the goals we’re conceding are not great goals from the opposition.

“We don’t get the opportunities that they get, so it’s frustrating because a lot of work has gone in and to concede the goals that we did is a real punch in the stomach.”