Barnsley boss Neill Collins hailed the impact of his half-time substitutes after seeing his side come from behind to win 3-1 at Burton.
Collins brought on striker John McAtee and midfielder Adam Phillips, who were both ill in the build-up to the game, and McAtee responded with a quick-fire brace, his ninth and 10 League One goals of the season, before Luca Connell sealed victory with a third for the Tykes.
“There was no question that we needed more urgency in our play, we needed a bit more quality and that was the message at half-time,” Collins said after his side trailed to Joe Powell’s goal at the break.
“We felt that we had to make changes and we know that with Macca (McAtee) he brings that intensity which is what we love.
“Him and Adam Phillips both reported unwell yesterday and were unable to train, but it was great that they made themselves available.
“We know that a lot of the time it is about what you can do late on in games and to have them and to be able to bring on that sort of quality helped.”
Victory extended Barnsley’s unbeaten away record to 11 games, a club record.
Collins added: “Ultimately are we frustrated in the last couple of weeks that we have let the chances of automatic promotion go?
“Definitely, but I just said to the players that there have lots of fantastic Barnsley teams in my lifetime and today we have broken the away record.”
Burton boss Martin Paterson cut a frustrated figure as he tried to analyse his side’s second-half “capitulation” that saw them slump to a sixth straight home defeat.
“First half was really good.” Paterson said. “Should have been two or three to the good.
“We missed opportunities but finally got that goal that we have been working for and we go in at half-time 1-0 up against an excellent Barnsley side at this level. Then you saw what happened, it was a capitulation.”
Paterson was Collins’ assistant earlier in his career and knew exactly what to expect in the second half.
“Last thing I said to the players at half-time was that there was a storm coming, because I know Neill. He is going to be aggressive and put his subs on early that are quality at this level and that showed in the period of time that they scored three goals.”
With five games to go Albion are looking over their shoulders at the bottom four and Paterson knows he needs more from his side in the remaining games.
“The performance levels are there in moments, but we can’t seem to get a complete performance,” he said.
“I am trying to be really creative with some things, but the truth is that we don’t score in moments when we have teams under pressure and that is hurting us.”
