Phil SumblerValérien Ismaël may have seen his Barnsley side beaten in the first leg of the play off semi final against the Swans but he certainly wasn’t downbeat after his side’s performance and believes that they have the quality to get a result at the Liberty on Saturday and progress to Wembley.
The Tykes were beaten by a first half strike from Andre Ayew that proved to be the difference between the two sides on the night but the head coach insists that if they play as they did in the second half last night then they have a chance.
Barnsley put the Swans under some serious pressure at the start of the second half last night and with their crowd returning and creating an atmosphere then it was a clear lift for the home side which is certainly something the Swans can draw their own inspiration from as they prepare to welcome back their own crowd on Saturday evening at the Liberty.
“I want to thank the fans for an amazing atmosphere, it was incredible,” said Ismaël.
“It was a big reward for everyone to finish the season with such an atmosphere.
“I think the first 20, 25 minutes we felt the atmosphere because we didn’t play well. There were a lot of mistakes and a lot of emotion and I can understand this.
“For their goal, Ayew came back from an offside position and we didn’t deal with it. You can’t blame the centre-back, he did his job and stepped out quickly.
“The second half was much better, we put the emotion aside and just focused on our gameplan.
The second leg is at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday. The winners of the tie will face the winners of Bournemouth and Brentford at Wembley on May 29. The Cherries won their semi-final home leg 1-0.
“We have a lot of inspiration,” added Ismael. “We have comeback quality and a strong mindset.
“Now it’s all about preparing for the game.
“At the beginning everybody says it’s a 50-50 situation but now it’s a clear picture and we know what can happen.
“In the second leg anything can happen. It’s 1-0.
“We have nothing to lose.
“If we fight like we did in the second half and start like that we have a good chance.”
