Barnsley: Winless run won't hit Gerhard Struber's confidence in Reds survival

The Austrian has taken over a Reds side that is rooted to the bottom of the table, having not won since the opening day of the season.

Barnsley's frailties were exposed in Struber's first match in charge on Saturday, when they fell to a 3-2 defeat at Ewood Park.

Cauley Woodrow netted in the 82nd minute to give his side hope of securing a draw, but Bradley Dack's second goal four minutes from time left the Reds five points from safety.

Asked whether the Tykes can stay up, Struber added: “Yes, absolutely. The situation is difficult, yes, I am not a dreamer.

"But I know when we can create in the next time, better positioning, better control on the ball, I think that we will have good chances to win games and this is our task, and I trust my team will get better next time.

“We learn every day, we will learn in every game. This time I learn that our focus and concentration has to be right for 90 minutes, every second.

"If the players can improve that, if we work hard at this in training and in the next games, we will have the chance to come away with the three points that we deserve."

Barnsley face another crucial game in their battle for survival on Wednesday, travelling to the Riverside to take on a Middlesbrough side who are fourth bottom.

Struber is hoping they can bounce back, saying: “It’s positive that on Wednesday we have a quick chance to turn things around.

"The boys are disappointed in there, but I told them to stay strong because apart from the mistakes, we showed a good performance.”