Harsley so proud of players’ response
BARNSLEY caretaker boss Paul Harsley thanked his players for their reaction to Paul Heckingbottom’s departure.
In the club’s first outing since Heckingbottom was appointed Leeds manager, Barnsley ended a threematch losing run with a battling point against the Owls.
Atdhe Nuhiu’s 18th-minute penalty gave Wednesday the lead but loanee Oliver McBurnie – on his first start for the Tykes – equalised three minutes later after dancing through the visiting defence.
Harsley was full of praise for his players’ response to last week’s upheaval.
He said: “You never know what’s going to happen but the second I walked into the changing room on Tuesday morning I knew everyone was on-side. We knew clearly what we wanted.
“After the game I told the lads I couldn’t thank them enough. They could have had their heads turned.
“The lads responded brilliant. We all came together.
“I was asked to do this game and I’ve done it to the best I could in the short space of time.
“I’m just gutted we didn’t get the three points.
“In the first half I thought we were the more dominant team. The last 30 minutes fizzled out a bit – both teams were maybe worried about conceding.”
Barnsley could have had more to show for their performance but they were denied a second-half penalty when Adam Hammill went down under Frederico Venancio’s challenge but referee Lee Probert was unmoved.
Harsley added: “If he’s giving their penalty, he’s definitely got to give Adam Hammill’s. For me it was a stonewall penalty.”
Wednesday manager Jos Luhukay has yet to see his side win a league game since taking charge in January.
Luhukay said: “After 90 minutes we must live with this draw. Both teams had chances. We scored first but couldn’t stay in front.
“We had four or five chances but we only scored from the penalty spot.”