Iñigo Calderón stated that Barnsley will be a difficult test for Bristol Rovers ahead of the match at The Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The Gas will be looking to bounce back from their defeat in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup against Ipswich Town with a second successive win in the third tier. The Pirates previously beat Cambridge United 1-0 thanks to Luke Thomas’ first-half header.
However, the Tykes are one of the form sides in the league, having won their last four successive games. They will be well rested after their fixture against Northampton Town last weekend was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
Calderón spoke to the media about the challenge that Barnsley will bring and the change in the training schedule and delivered an update on transfer and team news.
TRAINING SCHEDULE
“We spoke with the medical and the sports science department to see what we can improve or to change things, and we thought that changing the week would help us do more work in the week,” he said. “For me, this is key because now we train for three days in a row, especially on Tuesday and Wednesday, we work a lot. Then for us, it gives us chances to work harder because I think we need that.”
THE WEEK OF TRAINING
“It’s been two good sessions,” stated Calderón. “For me, it is the way I can share my idea. There were two good sessions yesterday and today, and that’s really important because I can see the progress in the sessions. It’s a matter of bringing that progress to the game because it is the most important time to show the progress.
“I’m quite positive. I think it was a tough moment last weekend against Ipswich. It hurt us a lot and probably stopped the change of momentum a little bit, but in the end, we have to realise that it was a really difficult opponent.”
IPSWICH TOWN REFLECTIONS
“You have to put in consideration that obviously they were a Premier League club,” said the Spaniard. “You can see that they have been working for a long time together, and they are in a good run at the moment. But even then, I was not too happy with the performance of the team. We can do much better.
“I was not too happy with the team, and the players were the same, so we are on the same page. It was not a good day, and it does not matter that it was a difficult opposition. We could do better, but it is probably good for us because it shows us that we are still in a bad moment and we have to do a lot of good things.
“Even conceding three goals, for me, the problem was we could not keep the ball at all, and that means you have to defend all the time, and that makes it more difficult to keep a clean sheet.”
TRANSFER NEWS
“There has been some work, but as you say, it is not an easy market because if they are playing well, they are not going to come here, and you have to pay a lot, so it is not an easy one,” said the head coach. “So sometimes if someone is not playing or someone is young, it’s a difficult one.
“You don’t want to bring players just to bring, I will say that. If they can make us better, they are welcome, but if not, we will go with the ones we have, and we’ll be happy with that.”
TEAM NEWS
“We are still missing Kamil Conteh and Promise Omochere, and we’re missing them a lot,” he said. “That’s the way it is. Sometimes, when you are in a bad moment, things happen. But the rest, I think, are all fit. There are a few ones with some knocks, but hopefully, they are going to be fit for Saturday.”
BARNSLEY PREVIEW
“We need that [to win] just to keep believing in what we are doing,” said Calderón. “The best way to keep believing is winning games. It’s going to be really difficult because they are similar to Leyton Orient. They are in a good run, and when you are in a good run, you do not have to do many things to get the points, and the opposite, we have to do a lot of things right.
“For me, it is going to be similar to Leyton Orient, as we need to do a lot of good things because when you are not in that good momentum, the unlucky moments, the referee decisions, usually they go against you. So, it’s nothing that we cannot control. We have to do things good; that’s the most important thing. Stay focused on the things we have to improve, and that’s the target.”
