Darrell Clarke irritated by Barnsley’s draw with Reading after dominating game

Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke was left frustrated with his side’s 2-2 home draw to Reading after they failed to capitalise on their dominance.

Davis Keillor-Dunn put the Tykes in front but Reading then went ahead thanks to Sam Smith’s double before Josh Earl levelled.

Clarke said: “It’s a big frustration (not to win).

“A lot of our build-up play was good and in the final third we have to do better. Better crosses, better finishing.

“It’s a frustrating night. We’ve conceded four shots on target in the last two home games and conceded three goals.

“There was a lot of dominance tonight but we’ve not got the points, so we’re very frustrated.”

On the amount of chances his side squandered, Clarke added: “There’s not a lot else you can say. It’s frustrating for everybody. The fans in the stadium, the players, the staff, everyone.

“I thought the performance was very good but it counts for nothing if you’re not clinical in both boxes.

“It’s just frustrating, there’s no other word to put on it.

“When it comes to the game, everybody will judge the performance. They’ll have seen a team that dominated the game but didn’t finish their chances and conceded both goals.”

On the character to come from behind, Clarke said: “I’ve not got any problems with my lads’ character and the way they go about things.

“The frustrating home form continues with too many draws.”

Reading head coach Ruben Selles praised his team’s effort.

He said: “I think we started the game a little slow.

“We started to put the ball on the floor in the middle of the first half and at half-time we demanded that if we were going to lose, we would at least lose it playing our way.

“Put the ball down, play vertically, play football. We started the second half well and scored two goals but they’re a very difficult team to play.

“I’m very proud of the effort that everyone put in on the pitch. We came here to try and get the three points but we will take the one point and move forward.

“We have proven this season we are competitive and can compete against any team. We got the ball down and if we had a little more calmness then maybe the result would’ve been different.”

On Louie Holzman’s performance on his league debut, Selles added: “We knew the game would suit his characteristics as a player.

“We wanted a couple of things from him, the first was for him to defend the long balls and win aerial duels and secondly to protect and allow the team to play more centrally.”